Black Student-Athletes Are Recognizing How Much Power & Influence They Have. Here's Why The "System" Doesn't Want This To Happen

I can vividly remember playing AAU basketball, traveling the country and competing against some of the top-ranked players in the nation.

Even after all these years, it all stands out in my mind.

I can still see the legendary college coaches talking amongst themselves and taking mental notes of the players while sitting in the stands. I can picture the sports agents and brand marketers in the corner of the gym scouting the kids who could be next-up. I can still imagine the packed gyms, high stakes, and elite match-ups that everyone came to witness.

As a teenager, I understood that this wasn't about basketball.

This was business.

And behind this business, even at that age, I knew somebody was getting paid. But it definitely wasn't us – the players who everyone came to see.

A few years ago, I stopped playing basketball for good. As I was pivoting into life after the game – those memories and years of playing were etched firmly in my mind.

I would often think about the mistakes I made in my career. The things I regret. I reimagined what I could have done differently and how certain decisions I could have made, could have altered my athletic career.

But hindsight is always 20/20 as they say.

I look at kids today and low-key wish I could go back.

However, I do also realize that's there are two crucial things that this generation of athletes has over the generation of athletes I played with.

Access and awareness.

This upcoming generation of student-athletes is far more informed than ever before.

They understand what's at stake. They are in tune with what's going on in the world. They deeply recognize how much power and influence they have in the culture.

And for a lot of people, the same people who were raking in dollars when I was playing, this realization is absolutely terrifying.

In William Rhoden's book $40 Million Dollar Slave, he reveals that black athletes’ “evolution” has merely been a journey from literal plantations—where sports were introduced as diversions to quell revolutionary stirrings—to today’s figurative ones, in the form of collegiate and professional sports programs.

The world of college sports has been referred to as modern-day slavery by many who truly understand the inner workings of the organization as a whole.

For many years, black athletes, who make up the majority of high-level talent for the top revenue-generating sports in America, have been on the outside looking in.

Yes, some have been able to generate millions of dollars, change lives for the people in their inner circle and give back and support their communities, but all of that pales in comparison to the actual value that these athletes bring to the table for the corporations they play for and the owners at the top.

If an athlete is able to command millions of dollars on the court or field, imagine what the people above them are making.

Fortunately, the tides are changing before our eyes and it's more apparent than ever when you observe the top high-school talent in this country.

Mikey Williams, one of the top-ranked guards in the class of 2023, tweeted a few weeks ago:

"Going to an HBCU wouldn't be too bad...??"

Trevor Keels, another high profile prospect who happens to be my friend's younger brother, is seriously entertaining the idea of attending an HBCU as well.

We've even seen former Liberty University cornerbacks Kei’trel Clark and Tayvion Land go viral after they entered the transfer pool because of experiencing racial insecurities at the university.

More and more athletes are hell-bent on changing the face of sports.

They're more focused on impact and doing something unprecedented.

Essentially they're now a threat to an infrastructure that frankly was built on the ignorance of their self-value.

That might be harsh to admit and hear, but when you play in the system and then understand it from an outsider's perspective when you're older as I have, you see it for what it really is.

It's simply a farm system for people to profit from the talent of black athletes.

Athletes today are a danger to the power structure that is the NCAA. Through advancements in technology, more specifically social media, these athletes know that they can do something that will cement their legacy forever.

When they control the narrative and leverage their platform to make a difference, a lot of people at the top are not only afraid of the boat being rocked but also at the fact that they're about to lose out on a lot of power and revenue.

These athletes hold the future of the game in their hands. It's no longer about the organizations, schools, or programs.

It's all about the players and the decisions they make. And younger athletes are cognizant of this being the case.

That's a heavy burden to carry for any teenager, but trust me when I say that if there was any generation that was ready for this opportunity, it's this one right here.

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