Dr. Richard Southall, Professor at the University of South Carolina

Professor Southall is DYK’s inaugural podcast guest. He has written and lectured on college sports issues for thirty years, including seminal works on NCAA graduation rate measurements and the intersection of college sports’ mythologies and the big-time college sports business model. In our discussion, Professor Southall explains the complex relationship between college sports, higher education, and American culture through the lens of former NCAA President Myles Brand’s “Collegiate Model.” How have the NCAA and Power 5 rationalized the professionalization of college sports—particularly the profit sports of Power 5 football and men’s basketball—while maintaining an “amateur” façade? How has the mythology of college sports masked the truth of the business model? What are the civil rights implications of a financial model that exploits athlete labor in sports dominated by African American athletes? Join us for a wide-ranging, provocative discussion of these and other issues that influence the current state and future of college sports.

00:00 Professor Southall introduction

02:35 Myles Brand's "Collegiate Model"

10:58 NCAA graduation rate and academic progress measurements

15:46 The role of the NCAA as “hegemon” and the power of college sports' mythologies in American culture

25:39 Mythology and its influence on decision-makers, including the judiciary

31:34 Racialized themes in college sports and the racial implications of the "collegiate model" as a financial framework

36:35 The importance of the 2013-14 time frame and the increasing pressure on the NCAA from external regulatory forces

43:08 The athletic scholarship as pay-for-play

53:48 Olympic development as a justification for the business model

58:55 Consumer comfort level with hypocrisy in the business model and perceptions of NIL compensation

1:00:51 NCAA tactics in their congressional campaign tied back to the "collegiate model"

1:08:55 Paternalism, athlete representation, and unionization

1:12:11 The role of the hegemon in 2023

1:16:09 The role and state of knowledge of university presidents, ADs, governing boards, and faculty

Note: For hyper-linked timestamps, please view the podcast on our YouTube channel.