Walter Byers and the NCAA: Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport by Smith, Ronald a.

Walter Byers and the NCAA: Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781621909491)

Vendor: Ronald a. Smith
Product type: Books
Format: Hardcover
$39.95
$39.95
$39.95
Subtotal: $39.95
Walter Byers and the NCAA: Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport by Smith, Ronald a.

Walter Byers and the NCAA: Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport

$39.95
Walter Byers and the NCAA: Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport by Smith, Ronald a.

Walter Byers and the NCAA: Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport

$39.95
Format: Hardcover
Description
Description
x
Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA, oversaw the organization's transformation from a small rule-making body into a billion-dollar enterprise that wielded immense power over collegiate athletics. In Walter Byers and the NCAA, historian Ronald A. Smith delves into the complexities of Byers's leadership during a period of great cultural and institutional change. Under Byers's guidance, the NCAA navigated significant milestones, such as the racial integration of college sports and the passage of Title IX, which mandated gender equality in athletics. At the same time, the commercialization of college football and basketball during his tenure led to skyrocketing coaching salaries and television contracts, pushing the NCAA into a new, profit-driven era.

Smith provides a nuanced portrait of Byers, showing him as a man who remained committed to the ideal of the nonprofessional athlete, even as college athletics evolved around him. Yet Byers's perspective shifted later in his career, as he began to question the fairness of this system. In his book, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Byers publicly criticized the exploitation of student athletes, a stance that foreshadowed today's debates about athletes' rights and NIL compensation.

Smith's work not only offers an in-depth look at Byers's role in the NCAA's expansion but also critiques the institution's long-standing emphasis on amateurism. The book underscores how the tension between amateur ideals and the increasing commercialization and professionalization of college sports has persisted, both during and after Byers's tenure. Ultimately, Smith provides a compelling study of one of the most influential and controversial figures in the history of American sports governance.


Author: Ronald a. Smith
ISBN-10: 1621909492
ISBN-13: 9781621909491
Publisher: Univ Tennessee Press
Language: English
Published: 05/16/2025
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
By Ronald a. Smith
By Ronald a. Smith
x
RONALD A. SMITH is professor emeritus at Penn State University. A renowned historian of college sports, Smith is the author of 10 books, including The Myth of the Amateur: A History of College Athletic Scholarships. He initiated the amicus brief that was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court decision to allow NIL payments to college athletes.

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