The Drake Group Education Fund (TDGEF) is thrilled to congratulate Advisory Council member Ashleigh Johnson on her remarkable achievement of representing the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. As a world-class athlete, Princeton graduate, and dedicated advocate for TDGEF, Ashleigh is an inspiration to us all. The extraordinary achievements of Ashleigh and other … Read more
A new report by The Drake Group Education Fund (TDGEF) highlights the low graduation rates of Division I football and basketball players, especially Black athletes at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). It urges universities to improve academic support for these athletes, who face pressure to succeed in both academics and sports. Julie Sommer, Executive Director of … Read more
A stellar line-up of attorneys, coaches, and academic experts discussed the subtle and not so subtle ways in which a double standard is applied to female coaches and athletics administrators from evaluation of performance to compensation, hiring, and termination decisions. The most current statistics on female administrator and coach employment at the college level, including … Read more
The purpose of the 2024 Allen Sack National Symposium on April 18 at Howard University in Washington, DC was to address national issues having a critical impact on college athletic programs. Speakers and panelists discussed college athletes’ well-being with a focus on hazing, bullying, coach misconduct, and the little-known fact that thousands of college athletes … Read more
Student reporters and accomplished sports journalists who were judges in this year’s The Drake Group Education Fund Student Journalism Prize for Investigative Reporting on Intercollegiate Athletics participate in a wide-ranging conversation about college sports and the role of investigative journalism. Student journalists from Northwestern University and Quinnipiac University, winners of this year’s sports journalism contest … Read more
On the eve of March Madness, one of the biggest sports gambling days of the year, a former NBA referee and an attorney who were gambling addicts, a professional gambler and founder of a betting tips newsletter, and experts on match-fixing and treatment of gambling addiction discussed how gambling has the potential to destroy college … Read more
Another historic phase of college football conference realignment occurred in 2023. The Big 12, Big Ten, and Atlantic Coast Conference all embarked on another round of expansion that destroyed the 108-year-old Pac-12 Conference. Two new super-conferences were created in the South and Midwest. The new national map of college football will exist for the foreseeable … Read more
NCAA President Charlie Baker took office in March 2023, and inherited several significant lawsuits regarding pay-to-play, name, image, and likeness, and health and safety issues. In response, in late 2023 Baker challenged NCAA member schools with a plan to create a new Division I tier in which schools would be required to pay a minimum … Read more
In the third year of college athletes being allowed to profit from their name, image, and likeness (NIL), many college athletes have taken advantage of their new opportunities entering various types of NIL deals. While NIL has opened the door for these athletes to reap some of the financial benefits of their labor, it has … Read more
A stellar panel of Drake experts review college-athletics-related bills that have been filed or announced as “discussion drafts” in the 118th Congress (2023-2024) as of November 16, 2023 and discuss key questions. Is Congressional intervention in the conduct of intercollegiate athletics justified? Will proposed legislation protect the outside employment rights of college athletes, ensure fair monetization … Read more