Former New York Knicks point guard and current Florida A&M University (FAMU) men’s basketball coach Charlie Ward was recently invited to participate in a President Donald Trump-inspired roundtable titled “Saving College Sports,” which included more than 50 others regarding the impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) deals student-athletes are signing. Critics feel that recent deals and students being given a chance to make money for themselves while in college have caused a problem, since colleges are no longer allowed to exploit players as they did in years past.
According to HBCU Sports, Ward was among politicians, school representatives, and officials who want to curb students’ use of the system for their own benefit. He was the only person from an HBCU invited to attend the meeting at
the White House in Washington, D.C. Ward played two sports (football and basketball) while attending Florida State and became the first and only athlete to win a Heisman Trophy (in 1993, for college football’s best player) who ended up playing his career in the NBA.Now, as a head coach at FAMU, Ward discussed his appearance at the White House on Fox & Friends and how he feels NIL deals should be formulated for the future.
“It was amazing to be in the room with a lot of heavy hitters in the sports industry,” Ward told the media outlet. “Sometimes you just want to be a fly on the wall — and I definitely was. There was a real sense of urgency to get something done for the future of college sports, particularly when it comes to governance, NIL, rev share, and the transfer portal.”
forwp-incontent-ad2">President Trump has stated he would sign an executive order, citing that NIL agreements require federal legislation to restore order in the college ranks regarding student compensation for their NILs.
“I will have an executive order within one week, and it will be very all-encompassing,” Trump said. “And we’re going to put it forward, and we’re going to get sued, and we’re going to see how it plays, OK, but I’ll have an executive order, which will solve every problem in this room, every conceivable problem, within one week, and we’ll put it forward. We will get sued. That’s the only thing I know for sure.”
Ward feels that revenue sharing with athletes differ than the NIL deals they are currently signing.
“First, we’ve got to decipher that NIL and revenue share are totally different. True NIL is what we see when athletes like Arch Manning do commercials or partner with national brands — that’s legitimate marketing value. Some players also make money through social media deals, and that’s another form of NIL. But it’s only a small segment of athletes who are involved at that level.”
The FAMU head coach wants to see a system that is similar to the pros when it comes to a cap structure. He wants a system that will also benefit smaller schools like his so they can be as competitive as the bigger schools to recruit players.
“I’ve always said, if you cap the rev share, it’s just like the NBA or the NFL,” Ward said. “You have a luxury tax. If a school goes over the amount, then put it in a fund. Being from Florida A&M, a smaller university in Division I. I say let that money trickle down to us.”
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