On Jan. 21, Ivy League Executive Director Robin Harris announced in an email to Ivy League players and coaches that the Ancient Eight will be opting out of the House v. NCAA settlement that aims to allow schools to pay past and current student-athletes.
The email states that the conference will not participate in the $2.8 billion settlement and that its athletic programs “will continue to not provide student-athletes with revenue sharing allocations, athletics scholarships, or direct [name, image, and likeness] payments.” The decision was made in accordance with the Ivy League’s commitment to a focus on academics over athletics.
Following the decision, The Daily Pennsylvanian gathered reactions from ten current and former Penn athletes.
Current Athletes
In a new era of college athletics that includes the expansion of the transfer portal, player payment, and finance-based recruiting, the Ivy League's decision leaves its athletes on the outside of benefiting financially from their play on the field. Junior Jared Richardson, Penn’s star wide receiver who was fifth in the Ivy League in receiving yards last year, told the DP that he has been forced to think about what may be best for him and his family.
“It’s honestly a letdown for us Ivy League athletes," he wrote in a statement. "I understand that the main focus is on academics, but when you see all these other schools looking out for their athletes, it sort of gets you thinking like ‘oh, maybe the transfer portal would be best for me and my family.'"
"Hopefully this ruling will get changed in the near future because I am honestly not a fan of it, nor are my teammates," he added.
Senior forward/center, captain, and leader of Penn men’s basketball Nick Spinoso has seen a lot during his tenure with the Red and Blue. A consummate professional and one of the best frontcourt passers in the Ivy League, he has witnessed many teammates leave the program for greener pastures, including star former guard Tyler Perkins' shocking departure to Villanova. Spinoso wrote that he is “not surprised” by the Ivy League's decision.
“Honestly, I’m not surprised that the Ivy League is opting out of it,” Spinoso wrote in a statement. “I understand there are a lot of pros and cons on either side, but I’m a senior and I’ve got five months left here, I'm honestly not too concerned about it. I’m sure it would be nice to get something, but I'm used to it by now and haven’t been expecting anything.”
Senior quarterback and captain for Penn football Aidan Sayin finds himself in a similar position. Also a four-year starter, Sayin has also witnessed a young star — sophomore running back Malachi Hosley — announce his departure from the program.
“The Ivy League’s decision doesn’t surprise me much, but I still don’t understand it," Sayin wrote. "Opting into 'House' as a league could provide an easier pathway for its schools to compensate their players."
Despite expecting the decision, Sayin doesn’t fully understand why the Ivy League wouldn’t use this situation to its advantage to make up for the ban on athletic scholarships — which would give the program the potential to step into the spotlight athletically for the first time in decades.
“With no current athletic scholarships, it would be a radical change for the Ivy League, much more than any other league,” Sayin wrote, expressing concern that athlete retention will become increasingly difficult as the Ivy League falls behind financially.
"Opportunities elsewhere will continue to take the top players in the league from each sport at an even higher rate than we saw over the past few years,” he wrote.
Penn baseball junior pitcher John Cerwinski, who has also seen his fair share of roster turnover during his time at Penn, wrote that the Ivy League's decision is "unfair."
“While the Ivy League has a proud academic tradition and emphasizes education over athletics, the reality is that many universities are now compensating their athletes in ways that go beyond just a scholarship," he wrote. He added that the Ivy League’s decision to focus on continuing to not pay players is not only limiting financial success but also preventing important experiences from athletes.
“These athletes aren’t just being paid to play; they’re gaining valuable life experiences, building their personal brands, and earning substantial income, all while pursuing their college degrees,” Cerwinski wrote.
With two years under his belt, Penn football wide receiver sophomore Jayden Drayton believes that the Ivy League “could become so much more attractive” for students who can be great both on the field and in the classroom with the addition of any combination of scholarships and NIL payments.
“More than just being able to be on scholarship & have the opportunity to receive monetary benefits similar to how other [Division I] conferences do, it would truly make a world of difference in regard to the student athletes’ experience in the Ivy League,” Drayton wrote. “It’s extremely disappointing to see the Ivy League continue to hold its student-athletes and athletic programs back.”
Conor Chaves, who was recruited to Penn last year as a transfer, wonders how further recruitment will continue while Penn refuses to entice athletes with pay-for-play.
“Considering how Penn acts around NIL, it's not too big of a surprise that they opted out of this since they emphasize that we are student-athletes first,” Chaves wrote to the DP. “It sucks, but it's something that I saw coming."
Transfer Athletes
Recent graduate transfer Isabella Whittaker, who was part of the recent 4x400-meter relay pool for the Paris Olympics and holds of a multitude of Ivy League records for the 400m, went past the disappointment expressed by current athletes about the decision. Whittaker, who recently transferred to Arkansas to further her track career, accused the Ivy League of taking advantage of its students.
“The recent Ivy League decision to opt out of the House v. NCAA antitrust settlement only further epitomizes the reality of Ivy League athletics: they do not support their athletes,” Whittaker wrote to the DP. “As a former student-athlete who has single-handedly helped to uplift the Penn program, I am extremely disappointed. Ivy league schools are under the impression that they can take, use, and reuse their athletes and give them nothing in return.”
Hosley, the 2024 Ivy League Offensive Player of the Year, recently announced his transfer to Georgia Tech, where he will now have the ability to benefit lucratively from direct NIL opportunities available to Athletic Coast Conference players. He expressed a similar disdain for the decision, writing that the decision feels “outdated” and questioned how opting out will affect competitiveness.
“It reinforces outdated notions of amateurism that fail to reflect the modern realities of collegiate athletics, and wide the gap between Ivy League athletes and those in other conferences — potentially affecting recruitment and overall competitiveness,” Hosley wrote in a statement. “And I believe it will hurt the competition in the long run since [the football program] got added to the [Football Championship Subdivision] playoffs.”
Alumni
1972 Wharton graduate, 1974 MBA graduate, and current Philadelphia trial lawyer Alan Cotler is one of few in America who understands the complexities behind the Ivy League opting out of this deal. Cotler was the starting point guard on the 1971-72 Penn men's basketball team that ranked third in the country and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
When it comes to the highest ceilings that Ivy League athletics can reach, Cotler is very familiar with what a well-supported program can achieve. Despite his illustrious career for the Red and Blue, Cotler feels that the Ivy League no longer cares for its athletes and is content with strong-arming students into accepting worse treatment for the shine of an Ivy degree.
“When it comes to providing Ivy athletes with the same rights and resources that the athletes get from the other 357 [D-I] athletic programs in the NCAA, the Ivy presidents and trustees have made it clear where they stand — they do not care,” Cotler wrote to the DP. “Take the Ivy financial need concept or do not get an Ivy League education, which they broadcast all over the world as the best education in the nation.”
Cotler is confident that change can still occur for Ivy athletes who feel as though they have no voice in this decision. Understanding the size of Penn’s endowment and the strength of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Cotler hopes students “take a stand” for the future of the Ivy League.
“Apparently, it will take a court order to make them change. Short of that, the Ivy athletes and SAAC representatives have to take a stand if they want to even have a chance of having these eight Ivy League schools join the 357 other [D-I] programs by allowing athletic scholarships, let alone sharing revenues and pay for play,” Cotler wrote. “And that is the situation with an Ivy League that has about $200 billion of endowment money — endowments that dwarf every other conference in [D-1], conferences that have as many as twice the number of schools as in the Ivy League.”
Former Penn men's basketball captain Jelani Williams, who graduated after the 2021-22 season and missed several seasons due to injury and the COVID-19 pandemic, is not disillusioned by Penn continuing to put themselves "above" paying athletes.
“They want to be 'different' or feel they are 'above' the rest of the NCAA so bad that they are willing to do so at the expense of their own student-athletes rights to monetize and earn based on their hard work,” Williams wrote in a statement.
Focusing on the amount of talent leaving Ivy League programs in recent years, Williams believes, like many others, that Penn doesn’t care whether or not its athletic programs will be “inconsequential" in future years.
“It’s no surprise that year after year, the best talent continues to leave and go to schools that are somewhat of a lateral move academically (Georgetown, Michigan, etc) and provide a better opportunity in literally every other aspect of life as a student-athlete," he wrote. "Each decision sends the same message — we don’t need you, and we don’t particularly care if you leave. At this pace, Ivy sports could soon be inconsequential."
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
Donate
