What Does Darthmouth's Union Mean For USC Student-Athletes?

This former Auburn Football head coach turned Alabama State Senator has some strong opinions on student-athlete unionization. Where does that leave USC student-athletes?

The world of college sports is undergoing a period of extreme change, which has garnered a ton of strong responses from fans, players, coaches, and now US Senators. Former Auburn Football head coach turned Alabama State Senator Tommy Tuberville claimed this week that unionization efforts of the Dartmouth Men's Basketball team will "kill the goose that laid the golden egg" he said on Fox News yesterday. 

"What's going to happen here is you're going to see groups of people that's going to try and unionize, and then it's going to spread across the country... This will absolutely kill college sports. Last time I looked, they're not employees, these students are student-athletes. And if you want the federal government involved, and ruin something... it will be a total disaster". 

USC is also smack in the middle of the debate as well. A trial is currently underway between the National Labor Relations Board and USC, the Pac-12, and the NCAA over the student-athlete/employee classification of USC student-athletes. 

Senator Tuberville's comments give USC fans a taste of what's to come, should this issue continue to run through the US legal system. Members of Dartmouth's Men's Basketball Team believe it's evident that they can be both students, employees, and union members at Dartmouth, concurrently. 

Tuberville thinks there is a way forward where NCAA student-athletes can get paid as employees without unionization, cautioning against the movement since, according to Tuberville, "unions have ruined our education system across the country. I was in a union when I first got into coaching in high school. Man has it gone downhill". 

Following a similar situation that USC is involved in, Dartmouth also just filed a request for a review with the NLRB, according to On3. While both of those issues are under review in their various domains, NCAA NIL has shown no signs of slowing down.