Millions of dollars go to universities, but some student-athletes face homelessness to stay within NCAA rules
(UPDATE) This just in from the official NCAA Twitter account:
After Boise State’s request last night, the school may provide immediate assistance to football student-athlete Antoine Turner.
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) May 14, 2014
Of course it’s an extreme case.
Sometimes, it takes the recognition of extreme cases in order to see actual problems within the rules of an organization. For Boise State football player Antoine Turner, adherence to the rules means that for at least the next month, he faces being homeless simply because receiving any aid from fans or boosters, even in the form of a place to sleep, could fall under an NCAA Violation.
Boise, Idaho news station KTVB recently did a feature on Turner’s hard luck and road to the national stage. With his mother dying of cancer when he was very young, and never having an actual relationship with his father, Turner suffered about as much as a person can, even finding himself trapped in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. A story like his is told countless times, and you’ve probably heard some variation of it before: bouncing around from home to home, gang activity, crime. Like many young black men in his situation, he looked to sports as a way out.
His long struggle found him winding up at Fullerton Junior College in California, where he pursued his gridiron dreams, while become homeless in the meantime. As a student, he slept on park benches or wherever he could find shelter. It wasn’t until his girlfriend introduced Turner to her family that he finally had a roof to sleep under.
Getting the leg up he needed, Turner gained solid weight and transformed himself into a player worthy of the highest level of NCAA football play. While staying with his uncle, Turner was dealt an another blow: because his uncle lived in government subsidized housing, the rules forced his uncle to kick Turner out. Once again homeless, he stays in motels when he has money and in his girlfriend’s car when he doesn’t.
Turner is homeless until his arrival in Boise on June 6, and after hearing the story on KTVB, a number of Broncos fans wanted to do what they could to help their new hero out.
Upon hearing of the outpouring of sympathy for Antoine Turner, and the offers of assistance, Boise State University compliance directors issued a statement that read as follows:
We need to make it clear to your viewers and Bronco fans that it is NOT permissible within NCAA rules for boosters of Boise State athletics to provide benefits to Mr. Turner. That would include money, loans, gifts, discounts, transportation costs, etc.
While Mr. Turner’s need is abundantly clear, it is not permissible for Boise State, the athletics department or supporters of the athletics department to assist Mr. Turner at this time. Once Mr. Turner arrives on campus for the start of the summer school program, he will be well taken care of–receiving full tuition, room and board, books, fees etc. In the meantime, the compliance office is exploring a potential waiver with the NCAA that would allow us to provide assistance prior to the start of summer school.
In fact, according to the rules, the ONLY people who can assist Turner in any way are those with “logical ties” to him, such as family or anyone connected to him before the story was made public. Until then, Antoine Turner has to stay in California, has to stay homeless, until his graduation from Fullerton College later this month. For their part, Boise State is attempting to get an exemption from the NCAA in order to allow him to get something that will allow him to move to Idaho sooner, where he will have what he needs. No word on when that decision will be made.
Maybe you don’t care about sports, maybe you think the NCAA is just in what they do, and that they provide a service that benefits all student athletes. This isn’t an issue of players getting paid off with money, jewelry or new cars. This is about common decency, and if it takes an extreme case such as this to show that maybe the system that is loathed and protected by so many is broken, then we all need to have a say, because this isn’t a sports issue…it’s a human issue.