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For ODU, Norfolk State, change won't come cheaply [The Virginian-Pilot :: ](Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Aug. 17--NORFOLK -- Old Dominion president John Broderick embraced the concept of playing big-time football in early 2012 when he announced the school would move to the Football Bowl Subdivision and join Conference USA. But he's been less enthusiastic about changes in major college athletics in the two years since. The Power 5 conferences, including the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern, have been demanding flexibility to spend more of their enormous revenues on athletes, and they seem to be getting their way. Earlier this month, the NCAA board of directors voted 16-2 to give those conferences autonomy to make their own rules. It seems virtually certain that a year from now, the NCAA will allow schools to begin paying scholarship athletes the full cost of college. For some of the richest schools in college athletics, that will mean paying upwards of $5,000 apiece for all scholarship athletes above and beyond what grants have typically paid: tuition, room and board. Many Conference USA schools have vowed to try to keep up with their more powerful FBS brethren. But Broderick said ODU won't blindly follow the pack. Instead, the school will employ a need-based formula for paying the cost of attending college. Athletes will compensated only if they have financial need for the extra stipend, he said. To do it any other way, Broderick said, would be unfair to students not on athletic scholarships who may be struggling financially. "No one is exactly sure how all of this will play out," he said. "But we have to ensure that we're not in some instances giving money to students who don't need it while we don't provide the same resources to other students on campus who do have a financial need. "There has to be some fairness and equity attached to all of this." The amount each school would be allowed to provide athletes will be based on a standard federal formula that determines how much athletes spend on clothes, entertainment, laundry and other costs not paid for by scholarships. According to Dr. Ellen Staurowsky, a professor of sports management at Drexel University, the average cost of attendance gap in FBS was $3,308 last fiscal year -- ranging from $1,036 at Tulane to $6,194 at Clemson. At ODU, the cost has been calculated at $2,800 per athlete, while Norfolk State's cost is nearly $5,000. Many schools in the power conferences appear likely to embrace the concept. Some basketball-oriented leagues, such as the Atlantic 10 and Big East, which aren't weighed down by 85 scholarship football players, may do the same. Broderick acknowledges that limiting aid based on need could put his coaches at a competitive disadvantage with recruits who may be offered more money elsewhere. "This is going to be an individual decision for each school to make," Broderick added. "But I'm comfortable with our position. We should not provide resources to people who don't have a stated need." Across town, NSU athletic director Marty Miller said the Spartans likely can't afford to pay the full cost of attendance. Norfolk State had a budget of $14.1 million in 2012-13, the latest year in which budget figures are available on state Web sites, and had a $1.7 million deficit. "Financially, we're just not in a position to do that," said Miller, who claimed his athletic department is no longer running a deficit. "I'm not saying we might not be able to do it (in the future), based on the availability of revenue. But not right now." At ODU, the tab for providing the full cost of attendance to all of its scholarship athletes would be more than $800,000, Selig said -- a huge expense for a school whose athletic budget was $37 million in 2012-13. ODU would end up paying about $250,000 it if distributes money based on need only, Selig said. That would come from fundraising and ticket revenue, he said. The costs will be much higher at bigger schools with more athletic teams -- Ohio State estimates it will spend $1.65 million. ODU will factor benefits some athletes receive from the federal Pell Grant program into its need-based equation. If an athlete is receiving the maximum allowed through the Pell program -- $5,730 -- he would not be eligible to be paid the full cost of attendance, Selig said. The NCAA convention will make the final decision on the plan in January, and the meeting will come as change appears to be coming to college sports on many fronts. Athletes at Northwestern University are trying to form a players' union. Earlier this month, a judge in Oakland, Calif., ruled that athletes must be compensated for the millions of dollars athletic departments make in television and ticket revenue. The ruling, which the NCAA is appealing, could means schools will pay athletes about $20,000 at the end of their four-year careers. Staurowsky, who has written widely about social justice issues in athletics, said the movement to increase benefits for players is hardly new. It began, she said, in 1936, when the Howard football team boycotted a game because the players weren't being fed properly and were not receiving proper medical care. "It's been a glacial march ever since toward doing the right thing, toward recognizing athletes for the contributions they make," she said. She said the NCAA took a positive step earlier this year when it ruled that Division I schools must begin providing unlimited meals to athletes. Although the proposal had long been in the works, it took center stage during the men's Final Four last winter, when Connecticut basketball player Shabazz Napier talked about often going to bed "starving" because he hadn't had enough to eat. Selig bristled at the suggestion that any ODU athlete has ever gone to bed hungry. "We were already doing a really thorough job of providing nutrition to our athletes," he said. Since the NCAA rule passed, though, ODU has begun making more snacks, energy drinks and power bars available for athletes. Many athletes receive brown-bag meals after dining halls have closed. It will cost ODU about $50,000, Selig said. Miller said Norfolk State hasn't yet determined how it will deal with the new NCAA rule on food. "We're looking at it," he said. "We may provide some snacks at various times." Selig said he's glad the national conversation is focusing on compensating athletes. "That day is certainly overdue." But he's also worried that changes may widen the gap between the five power conferences and the 27 other Division I leagues. "It remains to be seen for most conferences how they will implement the actual cost of attendance model," he said. "It could be different within every conference and throughout every state." Harry Minium, 757-446-2371, [email protected], twitter@harry_miniumVP ___ (c)2014 The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) Visit The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.) at pilotonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |