WASHINGTON — A Democratic congressman compared the NCAA to the Mafia over how it controls the lives of student athletes.
“I think they’re just one of the most vicious, most ruthless organizations ever created by mankind,” Illinois Rep. Bobby Rush said of the NCAA at a congressional forum on college sports on Tuesday. “I think you would compare the NCAA to Al Capone and to the Mafia.”
Rush made the accusations at the forum called to look at the impact of “back-room deals, payoffs and scandals” in college sports. The congressman spoke after hearing from a couple of mothers of former student-athletes who complained of ill treatment by schools after their sons suffered injuries.
“Congressman Rush obviously doesn’t know the NCAA,” Bob Williams, a spokesman for the organization, said in an e-mail message Tuesday night. “The NCAA and its member institutions provide over $2 billion per year in scholarships, financial assistance and academic support to student-athletes … second only to the federal government. Student-athlete success is our mission.”
One mother, Valerie Hardrick, said the University of Oklahoma refused to grant a waiver for medical hardship that would allow her son, Kyle Hardrick, to play basketball at junior college after transferring from OU. Prior to Tuesday’s forum, Hardrick’s family provided the Associated Press with documentation showing that team doctors diagnosed him with a torn meniscus in his knee and wrote down on practice logs that he should be held out because he was hurt. Hardrick’s family said the university has refused to pursue the waiver unless the family agreed to a settlement that would prohibit him or his family members from enrolling at Oklahoma or any of the universities governed by its board of regents. The proposed settlement also would prevent the Hardricks from filing a lawsuit against the university.
“My insurance does not cover all of Kyle’s medical bills,” an emotional Valerie Hardrick said. “The University of Oklahoma refused to pay for Kyle’s surgery, his rehab, and his medication. The university actions also allowed Kyle to be released without appropriate medical treatment before consulting his original surgeon.”
Kyle Hardrick, a forward who played a total of six minutes during his two seasons with the Sooners, said he has since transferred to a community college in Kansas but is unable to play without the waiver.
