The NCAA tournament is starting again, and the world is taking notice. Corporations are paying hundreds of millions of dollars for advertising, and the coaches are getting rich. What's also true (and you've heard me say this before) is that the players and their families aren't getting anything, even an education.

According to a study released this week by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the graduation gap between white and black players has widened this year for the teams participating in March Madness. This year, 45 NCAA tournament teams graduated more than 70 percent of their white players, up from 33 last year. But the number this year has remained the same for black players, with only 20 out of 65 teams graduating 70 percent of their black athletes.

The black-white graduation gap in the NCAA is a persistent problem and reminds us of what the NCAA stands for. The NCAA is a professional sports league that is allowed to use amateur status as an excuse to violate the labor rights of college athletes and their families. The perceived academic mission of the organization is structured to protect the revenue stream, and the capitalist incentives of the group are abundant in nearly every business decision that is made: athletes' images are sold for billions, TV rights deals are in the billions of dollars and coaches negotiate contracts that are on par with professional sports leagues. For those who think that compensating athletes will disrupt the integrity of college sports, they only need to realize that money has already corrupted the system.

Of the teams that got number one seeds in the NCAA tournament, we find that the graduation results for black athletes are mixed: Duke graduates a stellar 92 percent of it's black athletes, followed by Kansas at 73 percent. Syracuse and Kentucky are at the bottom with 55 percent and 31 percent, respectively. I've taught at both Kentucky and Syracuse, so I have seen the reasons for this disparity up close. I won't say another word, but I'll allow you to read my mind.

I am not here to bash any university for their behavior or choices, but we all know the deal. The NCAA's mission does not appear to be an academic one. There's too much money at stake, and athletes are only allowed to engage in academics as an extracurricular activity. The schools should be allowed to make a choice: Either be completely professional or completely amateur. Being professional means that everyone has the same rights to negotiate a salary for themselves and their families. That way, when the athlete has his academic schedule modified so he can make money, he will at least be making money for his family instead of his coach. Either way, he is going to be working 40 - 60 hours per week on a full-time job.

If the system becomes completely amateur, that would mean no more $30 million dollar coaching deals. No more missing classes to play in games. No more failing exams or having your major changed because you are spending as much time in practice as a professional athlete. The players could reclaim their youth and actually become real college students. Right now, athletes do not get to live the lives of normal college students, so the myth of the student athlete is a lie.

As it stands, the NCAA earns more money during March Madness than the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball earn during their post seasons. This isn't child's play, and it sure as heck isn't amateur. The idea that a capitalist sports machine has been put in charge of protecting the academic integrity of many of our nation's universities is as bad as profiteering drug companies running our health care system. Either way, it's a complete mess and a national disgrace.

The NCAA should be disbanded.


Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.