Posts tagged david west
The Professional Collegiate League Announces DC Stealth Coaches

January 27, 2021 [Cleveland, OH] — The Professional Collegiate League (PCL) today announced that Alan Major will serve as the Head Coach of the DC Stealth. A veteran leader on and off the court, Major brings over 20 years of collegiate coaching experience to the PCL. Additionally, Greg Oden will serve as Major’s Assistant Coach for the DC Stealth.

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On his decision to become the first head coach in the PCL, Major said, “I’m excited to accept the position to lead the DC Stealth. The PCL has a chance to be a terrific option for elite college basketball players. The League is striving to be the solution to many of the current issues surrounding the collegiate game. For me, the exciting thing about the PCL is knowing David West [PCL Chief Operating Officer] for almost 20 years and watching his passion for the game grow. He has a vision for the League and wants to develop it the right way.”

PCL COO David West stated, “Coach Major knows and loves the game. Throughout his career, he has continued to positively impact young people through teaching and coaching the game. The PCL is lucky to have him leading our DC team.”

Alan Major previously served as the Head Coach at UNC-Charlotte from 2010-2015. Major also served as an assistant coach at University of Texas (women’s team, 2018-2019), the Ohio State University (2004-2010, 2016-2017), Xavier University (2001-2004), University of the Pacific (1995-1998, 1999-2000), Southern Illinois University (1998-1999), and California Lutheran University (1992-1995). Major has coached and developed numerous players selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, including Mike Olowokandi, David West, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Jr., Evan Turner, Kosta Koufos, Byron Mullens, and Daequan Cook.

Greg Oden, the first player selected in the 2007 NBA Draft, played three seasons in the NBA for the Portland Trailblazers and Miami Heat. Oden also played for the Jiangsu Dragons in the Chinese Basketball Association, Scarlet & Gray in the The Basketball Tournament, and the Aliens after being selected 9th overall in the Big3 Draft. Oden serves on the Advisory Board of Edyoucore LLC, an organization that educates, equips, and empowers individuals in sports and entertainment to make better financial, business, and lifestyle decisions. Oden received a Bachelor’s Degree from the Ohio State University in Spring 2019. 

PCL CEO Ricky Volante stated, “It’s been great getting to know Alan and Greg throughout this process. David’s respect for Alan pushed him to the top of our interview list early in the process, and his track record in recruiting, coaching, and developing elite talent jumped out to me. In a moment of serendipity, I’d just met Greg at an event when Alan mentioned him as a key target for his staff. We’re very excited to have this duo leading the DC Stealth, and more importantly, we think that prospective recruits will be excited to play for them.”

You can hear more from Ricky, David, Alan, and Greg on the latest episode of the PCL’s Forward, Thinking podcast, which will be released today on all major podcast platforms. 

The PCL is the first collegiate basketball league to enable athletes to directly benefit from their talent, marketability, and hard work by offering an education and compensation in a US-based basketball league free of academic and economic exploitation. In short, the PCL is college sports reimagined. The PCL will also be releasing its Baltimore team name and brand later this week. 

Stay up to date on the PCL by following the league on social media.

Twitter: @the_pcleague

Instagram: @thepcleague

MEDIA CONTACT:

Wendell Haskins

Chief Marketing Officer

Professional Collegiate League

press@thepcleague.com

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The PCL, Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University, and SO’B Productions to Co-Host a Panel Discussion on the Future of Collegiate Athletics During the 2020 Final Four in Atlanta

The Professional Collegiate League, Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University, and SO’B Productions to Co-Host a Panel Discussion on the Future of Collegiate Athletics During the 2020 Final Four in Atlanta

March 04, 2020 [Cleveland, OH] — The Professional Collegiate League (PCL) is coming to Atlanta on April 5th to discuss a better, professional opportunity for collegiate athletes around the Final Four and Championship games. As college basketball players, coaches and fans gear up for the national championship game, the PCL will be co-presenting a panel discussion with the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University and Soledad O’Brien Productions. Industry leaders from across the nation will gather in Atlanta to discuss the future of collegiate athletics and the PCL’s critical role in defining that future. The PCL will also be unveiling the league’s Atlanta-based team name and insignia at the event. 

The PCL is the first collegiate basketball league to enable athletes to directly benefit from their talent, marketability, and hard work by offering an education and compensation in a US-based basketball league      free of academic and economic exploitation. In short, the PCL is college sports reimagined.

WHO: The panel will consist of award-winning journalist and producer and PCL Advisory Board member Soledad O’Brien, ESPN’s Bomani Jones, PCL COO and NBA Champion David West, and PCL CEO and Co-Founder Ricky Volante. It will be moderated by Kenneth Shropshire, CEO of Global Sport Institute at Arizona State. Focusing on the historical, societal, economic, and legal issues in collegiate athletics, attendees will hear from these industry professionals who bring a wealth of talent and experience in the business of sports.  

WHEN: Sunday, April 5th, 2020; 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: Loudermilk Conference Center, 40 Courtland Street NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30303

WHY: As the discussion of compensating college athletes continues to progress, Atlanta offers the perfect venue to host a discussion on the future of college sports. Not only will the Final Four tournament be a gathering spot for the who’s who of college basketball, Atlanta is one of the eight cities in which the PCL will launch its inaugural season.

RSVP TODAY: https://pcl-atl-panel.splashthat.com/

The event is free and open to members of the public. 

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah Bray

Innovant Public Relations

Sarah@InnovantPR.com

832-226-2116

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The HBL Announces Award-Winning Journalist, Soledad O’Brien, to Join Advisory Board

Cleveland, OH – November 12, 2019 – The Historical Basketball League (HBL) is pleased to announce the addition of documentarian, journalist, speaker, author and philanthropist, Soledad O’Brien, to the league’s Advisory Board. Comprised of influencers from various industries critical to the long-term success of the HBL, the Advisory Board includes experienced leaders in technology, finance & investment, sports, media & content, legal, and academics. Soledad O’Brien is the newest member of the HBL Advisory Board and will work closely with the HBL Executive Team to provide critical input on decisions related to overall strategic planning and execution of the HBL’s mission and vision.

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Ricky Volante, CEO and Co-Founder of the HBL remarked, “Soledad brings passion and grit to every effort she commits to and we are so pleased to welcome her to the HBL Advisory Board.  Her extensive experience and knowledge, as well as her long-standing relationships in the media industry, will be invaluable as the HBL moves into the next strategic growth stage. Soledad's efforts to give under-represented and exploited individuals a voice, as well as her dedication to upholding human and civil rights, fit perfectly with our overall mission to create a fair and equitable college basketball model that rewards its athletes for their efforts, rather than exploiting them.”

Soledad O’Brien is the CEO of Soledad O'Brien Productions (SO’B Productions), a multi-platform media production company dedicated to telling empowering and authentic stories on a range of social issues. In addition to leading SO’B Productions, she anchors and produces the Hearst Television political magazine program Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien and reports regularly for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and PBS’ NewsHour. O’Brien has appeared as an anchor or contributor on all three major networks and was the face of CNN’s morning news shows for many years. She also anchored the CNN documentary unit where she created the In America documentary series.  O’Brien is the Philanthropy Editor of Worth Magazine and is also the author of two books, her critically acclaimed memoir The Next Big Story and Latino in America.  She speaks on a variety of social issues at college campuses and corporate events.  

On joining the HBL Advisory Board, O’Brien said, “I'm honored to be part of the Advisory Board of the HBL because I think there’s an important conversation to be had on how best to reform the system—that uses promising young athletes but fails to compensate them. As a storyteller I know the public is ready for a conversation about the rules that govern college athletes, and where those rules can be improved. I'm thrilled to join their team of courageous athletes, sport pioneers and innovative leaders at such a critical juncture.”

The HBL is the first professional college basketball league to enable athletes to directly benefit from their talent, marketability, and hard work by offering an education and compensation. The league is shifting the landscape of collegiate athletics by offering salaries up to $150,000 per season, in addition to 5-year guaranteed scholarships, along with allowing its athletes to fully commercialize their name, image, and likeness without restriction. 

With backing secured from over a dozen investors from a range of industries and backgrounds, the HBL is preparing to launch its 2021 inaugural season in eight cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, District of Columbia (D.C.), Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta. The HBL expects to finalize its domestic media partnership in the coming weeks and will then shift its focus to hiring head coaches and securing an apparel partner, as well as continuing to engage and recruit 4-star and 5-star prospects.  Expect more exciting news from the HBL, including updates on coaches, players, team names and logos, as well as further details on team and league sponsorships and partnerships.

Press inquiries for interviews, additional facts, and images should be directed to press@hbleague.com. To keep up to date, follow the HBL on Twitter (@hb_league) and Instagram (@hbleague).

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MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah Bray

Innovant Public Relations

Sarah@innovantpr.com

832.226.2116

The HBL Announces New Additions to Advisory Board and Athlete Advisory Board

Cleveland, OH – October 3, 2019 – Ricky Volante, CEO of the Historical Basketball League (HBL), and David West, COO of the HBL, today announced the addition of several new members to the league’s Advisory Board and Athlete Advisory Board.

The HBL is the first professional college basketball league. The HBL will compensate and educate athletes, allowing players to directly benefit from their talent, marketability, and hard work without having to sacrifice their educational opportunities or leave the United States.  As the HBL transforms from concept to reality, it is disrupting the amateurism model and shifting the landscape of collegiate athletics. As a result, the HBL’s Executive Team places great importance on the role of the HBL’s Advisory Council (Advisory Board, Athlete Advisory Board, and Academic Advisory Board).  Comprised of influencers from various industries critical to the long-term success of the HBL, the Advisory Council includes current and former elite college and professional athletes, experienced higher education professionals, and leaders in sports marketing and management.  Members of the HBL Advisory Council bring vast experience in the fields of technology, finance & investment, sports, media & content, legal, and academics. 

The HBL Advisory Board works closely with the HBL Executive Team to provide input on decisions related to overall strategic planning and execution of the HBL's mission and vision.  New to the HBL Advisory Board are Damon Jones – former Senior Director of Player Development at the NBA; Ameesh Paleja – Founder of Atom Tickets and Chief Technology Officer at OfferUp; Manny Ojobaro – Finance Manager at CapitalG; and LJ Kwak Yang – leadership and business developer, entrepreneur, investor, and former Googler

“We are very excited to announce our new Advisory Board members.  Damon, Ameesh, Manny, and LJ bring significant expertise in fundraising, media content creation and distribution, sports sponsorships, and college and professional basketball,” said Ricky Volante.  “We are thrilled that they have joined the HBL Advisory Board and look forward to the many ways in which they will leverage their experience and resources to provide the league with strategic guidance as we transition into the next critical growth phase, which includes finalizing our media and apparel partnerships, hiring coaches, recruiting players, and much more.”

Damon Jones said, “In the 19 years that I have worked with elite collegiate and professional athletes, one of my main goals has been to ensure athletes are given ample mentorship and support. I am impressed with the unique resources the HBL has in place to help empower college basketball players on and off the court, and I am excited to be a part of this movement that will greatly enrich each player’s experience. Focusing on the players' individual development and using basketball as a means to shape their off-the-court aspirations will maximize their opportunities now and in the future.”

“It’s an exciting time to be joining the HBL Advisory Board.  My hope is to compliment the already talented HBL Executive Team with my experience in the tech and media spaces, as they lay the groundwork to launch the league’s inaugural season and connect with basketball fans across the country,” said Ameesh Paleja.

Joining the HBL Athlete Advisory Board to counsel the Executive Team on matters critical to the experiences of athletes in the HBL and serve as mentors to the league’s players are: Chekesha Johnson – actress, model, and former basketball player at the University Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Emily Hu – world record setting powerlifter and medical device researcher; and Nadia Eke – Ghanaian Olympic triple jumper.  

Regarding these additions, COO David West said, “We are excited to welcome Chekesha, Emily, and Nadia to our Athlete Advisory Board.  I'm proud that the HBL is taking a leading role in providing athletes rarely afforded and meaningful opportunities to engage in the management and ownership of sports.  I look forward to more pro athletes taking advantage of the HBL’s multiple options for involvement, whether as a league investor, advisory board member, or team ambassador."

Chekesha Johnson added to West's sentiments saying, "As a former college basketball player, I am pleased to be part of executing a vision that will change the status quo and allow college athletes to be justly compensated for their significant contributions.  As a Millennial, I want to change the future for the next generation of athletes.  I look forward to working with this incredibly seasoned and talented group of current and former professional athletes as we pave the way for the future of college athletes."

Emily Hu stated, “As a former professional athlete, I'm excited to join the HBL because I believe that college athletes should never have to risk their education and their future to play a sport at the highest level. I was fortunate enough to receive the education of my choice from a top college, so I will never have to rely on my athletic ability to put food on the table. I’m passionate about helping other talented young athletes succeed off the court, and the HBL’s vision gives college athletes that opportunity.”

The HBL has secured backing from over a dozen investors from a range of industries and backgrounds and is preparing to launch its inaugural season in eight cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, District of Columbia (D.C.), Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta.  The HBL expects to finalize its domestic media partnership in the coming weeks and will then shift its focus to hiring head coaches and securing an apparel partner, as well as continuing to engage and recruit 4-star and 5-star prospects.  Expect more exciting news from the HBL, including updates on coaches, players, team names and logos, as well as further details on team and league sponsorships and partnerships.

Press inquiries for interviews, additional facts, and images should be directed to press@hbleague.com.  To keep up to date, follow the HBL on Twitter (@hb_league) and Instagram (@hbleague).

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah Bray

Innovant Public Relations

Sarah@InnovantPR.com

832.226.2116

The Historical Basketball League (HBL) Announces the Initial Members of the HBL Athlete Advisory Board

Ricky Volante, CEO of the Historical Basketball League (HBL), and David West, COO of the HBL, announced the initial members of the HBL Athlete Advisory Board (AAB).  The AAB will consist of: NBA players TJ Warren and Darren Collison, NBA Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond, NFL Hall of Famers Terrell Owens and Champ Bailey, former NBA players Etan Thomas, CJ Watson, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Butch Lee, and Jimmy King, who is joined on the AAB by his Fab Five teammate Ray Jackson.  In addition to joining the AAB, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf has accepted a position on the overall HBL Advisory Board.

The AAB consists of current and former professional athletes that serve as ambassadors and mentors to the players in the HBL. These athletes will advise the HBL Management Team, especially when making impactful decisions on the lives of our players.  No one better understands the intricate balancing act college athletes endure managing their educational and athletic responsibilities.  HBL athletes will benefit from the experience and mentorship of AAB members, regarding personal development and preparedness for the professional ranks.

Earlier in the week, Volante and West introduced Terrell Owens as the HBL's first official Team Ambassador.  As a Team Ambassador, Owens will be directly involved with a single HBL team as an influencer and one of the team's marketing faces.  He will work with the HBL's management team to identify and secure local sponsors, partners, and investors.  Additionally, Terrell will serve as a mentor and resource to the team's athletes.  On joining the HBL, Owens said, "The change the HBL is bringing is long overdue, and I'm thrilled to join as the first Official Team Ambassador. An athlete-first model that will treat college athletes equitably and as partners is needed, and I'm excited to be a part of its development."

In describing the AAB's importance, Volante said, "David and I are excited to be able to offer our athletes the opportunity to tap into the decades of collective experience of the AAB.  As a former college athlete, I know the challenges in transitioning from high school to college can be daunting, but our athletes will be pioneers.  In the HBL, they will be athletes, students, and businessmen.  Having the AAB as a resource will make that transition easier and more successful."

The HBL is the first college basketball league to compensate and educate its athletes.  The league will begin play in June 2020 with an inaugural schedule of eight teams in East Coast cities spanning the Mid-Atlantic and Piedmont regions.  With its athlete-centric model, the HBL does not have traditional team owners, opting instead for coupling investor-operator groups and team ambassadors.

HBL COO David West said, "The AAB has more professional experience than any blueblood program can offer.  Unlike those programs, we will encourage our athletes to work with the people who know how to transition to the next level and be successful on and off the court."

On joining the AAB, CJ Watson said, "I agreed to join because I believe in the league's vision and path they are developing for the betterment of college athletes. To give these young kids a different outlet and opportunity to achieve their goals and dreams without being exploited is a blessing. For me, it is truly an honor to be chosen for the athlete advisory board to mentor and give advice to these athletes."

Mitch Richmond added, "I've had the honor of winning a gold medal, being named Rookie of the Year, and being inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Having been so blessed, this is my chance to pay it forward to the next generation of basketball players, to help them blaze a new trail that was not there for me.  These men have already accomplished a lot in their young careers and I look forward to working with them as they go on to even greater things in the HBL and beyond."

June has been a busy month for the HBL.  In addition to bringing Owens on board and creating the Athlete Advisory Board, the HBL announced it was launching its 2020 season in eight cities: Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Richmond, Norfolk, Raleigh, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

Before the HBL, basketball players were excluded from the lion's share of financial benefits while everyone around them received significant compensation.  The HBL provides a new and better opportunity, one without economic and academic exploitation.  The HBL's players are projected to earn between $50,000 and $150,000 per season based on athletic talent and marketability, in addition to receiving a guaranteed scholarship and having the ability to fully commercialize their name, image, and likeness, all without jeopardizing their eligibility with the HBL.

Volante emphasized today's announcement is just the beginning of a busy run-up to the league's 2020 launch: "The HBL is launching in one year's time and as an organization we spend every day focused on the next step towards a successful launch.  The success of the HBL revolves around our ability to recruit elite players and produce an entertaining product for fans.  The AAB is an essential part of that recruitment process and the HBL's overall positioning with players and their families.  With elite players, we are going to change the way college sports are viewed in the US, end the Amateurism con, and allow college athletes to earn and learn at the same time."

Volante and West promised more news in the coming weeks and months as the league plans to roll out team names and logos, announce head coaches, as well as to provide further details of sponsorships and partnerships as the HBL moves toward its June 2020 launch.

Press inquiries for interviews, additional facts, and images should be directed to press@hbleague.com.  To keep up to date, follow the HBL on Twitter (@hb_league) and Instagram (@hbleague).

Paying College Athletes Will Not Ruin College Sports

By: Ricky Volante (HBL CEO & Co-Founder) and Andy Schwarz (HBL Chief Innovation Officer & Co-Founder)

In a recent opinion piece for the New York Times, Cody McDavis trotted out a series of stale and mostly discredited arguments against antitrust remedies proposed by the plaintiffs in the Alston v. NCAA case. He argued the proposed remedies would lead to the death of college sports. His lead thesis claims that unravelling the pay caps imposed by the NCAA would “distort the economics of college sports.” McDavis has confused cause with effect, poison with cure.

The economics of college sports are highly distorted because of “amateurism.” The 350-plus NCAA schools that band together to set maximum compensation caps are a classic example of a monopsonistic cartel — a group of independent businesses that agree not to compete on price for an essential input to their business.

Imposing price caps almost always distorts markets, and in the case of a monopsony (economics jargon for a buyer’s monopoly), the most typical impact is the cap distorts the price of related complementary inputs, things like coaching salaries and facilities spending.

And indeed, this distorting effect has been massive. In the late 1990s, Steve Spurrier (then the head coach of the University of Florida) was the first college football coach to earn $2 million dollars in a season. Today, according to the college football coach salary database compiled by Steve Berkowitz ofUSA Today, 62 football coaches — all but a handful of the Power 5 Conference schools earn $2 million or more, with the highest honor going to Nick Saban whose guaranteed pay exceeds $8 million.

Similarly, schools spend lavishly on athletics facilities and athletics-specific amenities, in part, to attract elite athletes to their campus in the absence of the more traditional ways of using compensation and benefits as a direct inducement.

This dramatic rise in coaching pay and facilities spending has two causes. First, college sports have become more lucrative, and second, athlete pay is capped. Schools invest in indirect means of recruiting because the NCAA will punish and/or ban them if they use the direct methods. This has led to Alabama’s locker room featuring a waterfall and $10,000 player lockers in Texas’s football locker room.

The result is market distortion. McDavis sees the positive changes that would occur as schools adjust their spending downward to appropriate levels for coaches and facilities, and upward for athletes as a problem, rather than as a sign that things were finally coming back into equilibrium.

McDavis also trotted out the “sky is falling” arguments, saying that if schools had the choice to pay athletes, some would simply quit. In supporting this, he pointed to the testimony of University of Wisconsin chancellor Rebecca Blank, who testified last September that: “It’s not clear that we would continue to run an athletic program.” McDavis omitted the fact that the outcry against this testimony was so great that Wisconsin issued a retraction one day later, stating publicly it has “no plans to stop offering athletics,” lest the Badger State rise in revolt at this ridiculous claim.

To be clear, McDavis knows these arguments are threadbare and have been rejected by federal courts. Indeed, his Op-Ed is essentially a precis of his 2018 article in the Marquette Sports Law Review, where he specifically acknowledges that these arguments were rejected at the summary judgment phase of the recent Alston v. NCAA case, meaning the NCAA’s argument was so weak, it was rejected even before the trial began.

Among these rejected arguments, McDavis adopts the idea that capping athlete pay helps balance college sports. He bemoans the likelihood that college sports will become imbalanced, with only the top 25 schools capable of winning the national championship. But that is the case now.

Try telling a fan of any women’s basketball team other than UConn and a handful of other contenders that the 26th best women’s program has a realistic chance to win it all. McDavis essentially offers up the nightmare scenario that Clemson and Alabama might play each year for the FBS football championship because they would spend the most on athletes, but of course three of the last four years have featured that exact match-up even with “amateurism.” Why? Because those teams spend the most on coaches and facilities. Think it’s more balanced in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS)? Guess again. North Dakota State University has won 7 of the last 8 national championships.

Even in men’s basketball, seen as a haven for “the little guy,” the last ten championships have been won by Villanova (2), North Carolina (2), Duke (2), UConn (2), Louisville (1) and Kentucky (1). These are blueblood programs, winning year after year. Indeed, if we total all national championships won by these programs and just three others (UCLA, Indiana, and Kansas), those nine schools won 48 of the 80 national championships ever awarded in men’s basketball. That’s approximately 2.6 percent of the schools participating in Division 1.

You cannot call a sport “balanced” when 2.6 percent of the teams have collectively won 60 percent of the championships.

But where McDavis really goes astray is when he tries to make the economic argument against compensating players.

He points to rule changes which came in the wake of a court ruling against the NCAA’s previous (and more onerous) pay cap, that allowed, but did not require, schools to pay athletes a cash stipend of between $2,000 and $6,000 — known as the “cost of attendance” scholarship.

Over 250 of the schools in Division 1 adopted this increase in one form or another within three years of the rule change. Sounds good, right? Not to McDavis. Instead, he argues that by allowing schools to choose where they would direct their funds in a more open-market manner, this has led them to giving more money to basketball and football, but led to cuts in other sports like golf and tennis.

As it happens, he gives just one example — a school that cut, inter alia, golf, though the causal connection between the school’s adoption of higher pay for some sports and the decision to cut other sports is rather dubious.

However, if his single example were true, that simply means the current market is encouraging schools to under-compensate athletes who play football and basketball, and over-compensate those who play golf. In light of the fact that at many schools approximately half of the participants in basketball and football come from families with income low enough to qualify for Pell grants, it is not clear why McDavis supports shunting their money into country club sports. But for our part, we posit this is a distortion that needs to be fixed — not preserved.

Who are we? We are David West, Ricky Volante, Keith Sparks, and Andy Schwarz, the executive team of the Historical Basketball League (HBL). We are launching the first professional college sports league in June 2020. The HBL wants to end forever the forced (and false) choice between education and economic rights by offering athletes both: guaranteed five-year scholarships (that can be suspended while an athlete pursues an NBA career and then resumed thereafter) and market rates for their basketball services. Plus, HBL athletes will be able to tap into the lucrative market for endorsements, like sneaker deals, and still remain eligible for the HBL as long as they remain students in good standing at their school.

We think college athletes, like all of us within the American economy, deserve the benefits of a vibrant market in which the best talent can seek the best rewards, free from collusion among employers. The HBL can’t make the NCAA stop being a cartel, but we can make them pay a heavy price for denying athletes their fair market value.

We plan to attract the best collegiate talent in the good old-fashioned American way — by paying more for quality. The NCAA schools can choose to compete, or they can accept becoming the amateurs.