Duke AD Kevin White and UNC AD Bubba Cunningham Are Alarmed by Name, Image, and Likeness Rights

SI's Pat Forde shares his thoughts on opinions of a few ADs

Duke athletic director Kevin White and UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham have been outspoken in their resistance to the NCAA decision to allow student athletes their name, image, and likeness rights. SI's Pat Forde shares his thoughts on what these AD's had to say about the NCAA decision that came about this spring. 

This week, Duke athletic director Kevin White joined North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham in raising the alarm about incoming name, image, and likeness legislation, which will allow student athletes to be compensated for being student athletes. This is something that was enacted in the spring by the NCAA. It looks like it will go into effect for next year, 2021-2022. So it's already really happening. But now we're starting to hear athletic directors, prominent ones, important ones, within the NCAA structure, saying that this is basically an oncoming disaster. I think it's vastly overstated by Kevin White and points out the fact that basically a lot of people do not want the gravy train that has fed all the money directly to athletic departments to be dispersed among the players and not all go to the coffers of the AD. So there's a lot obviously involved. 

This is very complicated legislation. It's not going to be easy. There are going to be problems, but it's the right thing to do to change the rules. And it's time for some of these athletic directors who have been part of the old guard to get in line and get with, or be part of, the solution instead of dragging their feet on it. No less a person than Jay Bilas, former Duke player, certainly with great relations at Duke, referred to Kevin White's statement as stunning in its tone deafness. And I have to agree with Jay. I think that it's time for Kevin White to to get on board here.