Advertisement

‘We would have cleaned up’: Past Wichita State basketball greats weigh in on NIL era

Xavier McDaniel had $41 to his name in 1981 when he left his hometown of Columbia, South Carolina for Wichita State University.

Following an All-American career that secured X-Man’s No. 34 jersey a permanent spot in the Koch Arena rafters, McDaniel said he left Wichita in 1985 with less than half of that.

The player who once captivated Wichita and was one of college basketball’s most marketable stars laughs when asked how much money he could have made in today’s era that allows players to profit from their name, image and likeness.

“I came to Wichita broke and I left Wichita broke,” McDaniel said. “I don’t know how much money we would have made back then, but I know we wouldn’t have been struggling. I know (Wichita State) sold a whole lot of number 34 jerseys and I never saw a dime.

“The times have changed, the kids have changed and the NCAA never changed. There’s a whole lot of people making money, except for the kids.”

McDaniel isn’t the only star from the Shockers’ former glory days who has an opinion on the introduction of NIL policy to today’s college athletics.

Lynbert “Cheese” Johnson and Aubrey Sherrod, who host a youth basketball camp with McDaniel in Wichita every summer, can only dream of the money they missed out on from endorsement deals and autograph signings back in their playing days.

“Oh man, we would have cleaned up,” Johnson said. “(NIL) took a long time, but I guess sometimes good things come on the back-end. It’s well-deserved for these players. A long time coming.

“I think it was the great philosopher Charles Barkley who once said, ‘I was born too late,’” Sherrod added, laughing.

After a delayed start, Wichita State finally entered the NIL game in April with the creation of Armchair Strategies, an NIL collective that operates independently from the university to create money-making opportunities for student-athletes.

The trio of former Shocker stars believe it is a step in the right direction for current players.

“It doesn’t have to be a lot of money, just enough,” Johnson said. “What I mean by enough is a couple thousand dollars. For a college kid, that could be really helpful. I know a lot of fans say that the scholarship for a kid should be enough, but coming from the backgrounds that we come from, we don’t have too much.”

McDaniel also weighed in on the point he sees the most pushback on when it comes to paying college players.

“They say you’re just like other students, but you’re not like other students,” McDaniel said. “Other students can go out and get a job somewhere or an internship. Athletes can’t do those things because we’ve got practice or weights or film. Being a Division I basketball player is a full-time job.”

McDaniel can still remember a lot of nights he went to bed hungry in his dorm room on Wichita State’s campus, unable to pay for food on his own.

“Back in the ’80s, the NCAA wouldn’t let coaches feed you,” McDaniel said. “Back when me and Aubrey were on the team, we would practice so late in the day that the cafeteria was closed by the time we got out. A lot of people don’t realize I lost 11 pounds my freshman year.”

Johnson also pointed out that star players such as McDaniel, Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston from his era and modern-day Shockers like Fred VanVleet, Ron Baker and Cleanthony Early all helped Wichita State make a lot of money without ever receiving a financial cut from those earnings.

“Those players generated a lot more revenue than what their scholarship was worth,” Johnson said. “It also gave the university a lot of publicity. I don’t think kids should start getting millions of dollars or even hundreds of thousands. I’m not saying that, but just a little money where they can afford to take a date out and pay for a nice meal.”

Sherrod acknowledged the NIL policy is a step in the right direction for players, but he doesn’t want to see donors be the ones who have to put up the money.

“If you look at the bigger picture, the universities are still getting these huge contracts from the TV networks,” Sherrod said. “You’re noticing that they’re not touching that. I think that needs to change.”

Another issue he thinks needs to be addressed is the potential chemistry problems that the free-for-all system in place currently could create.

“What’s going to happen is you’re going to have a star player who is going to get a huge endorsement and then another player will get one with the same company for not as much money,” Sherrod said. “Will he be upset? Will he be jealous?”

“How is someone else going to tell all 13 of those guys what they’re worth?” McDaniel added. “That’s the part they’re going to have to figure out. I don’t know how they should do it, but I think all kids should be getting at least something. That’s where the NCAA has been wrong since 40 years ago when we were in school.”