Charles Barkley might not like seeing college athletes get paid as much as they are, but he used to be the one giving them money.
Barkley attended the Regions Pro-Am in Birmingham, Alabama Wednesday, and prior to the golf tournament, he joined Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic on their Jox 94.5 morning show. During the interview, Barkley spoke about college sports and NIL donations, where he admitted to giving his alma mater, Auburn University a lot of money for their athletic programs. But NIL seems to have caused Barkley to reach his limit.
“I’ve given more money to Auburn, legal or illegal, than any athlete in the history of the school,” Barkley told McElroy and Cubelic. “There’s not a single person in the world who’s given more money to Auburn, legal or illegal, than me, but the notion that I’m going to come up with a couple million dollars every year so that we can be good at basketball and football, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
It’s not surprising to hear Charles Barkley has given money to Auburn illegally, he all but admitted to it more than a decade ago. In 2014, Seth Davis posed a hypothetical situation to Barkley, asking if he would go against NCAA rules by giving Auburn $100,000 to land a top recruit. Barkley’s answer was simple, “Sure, I would do it.” And he defended his answer by saying NCAA rules are “so unfair.”
Barkley has been one of the biggest critics of NIL in recent years, regularly claiming it’s not a sustainable model, while calling on college athletes to put more money on the value of a free education. NIL is not perfect and it’s not for the better of college sports, but it is for the better of the college athlete. Athletes who, for decades, were taken advantage of by the NCAA, particularly in college basketball and football.
Charles Barkley shouldn’t have to spend more money on Auburn athletics now that it’s legal to do so. But his criticisms of NIL do sound a little hypocritical when he admits to bankrolling Auburn’s rosters in the past.
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