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Charles Barkley defends NCAA: Kids go to college for free

The NCAA has come under a lot of scrutiny recently. Still, the beleaguered organization does have one very outspoken ally, basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley.

Barkley spoke to TMZ’s Adam Glyn in New York City. While he did acknowledge that “The NCAA has some issues” and that “there’s a few guys that are corrupt,” he also spoke highly of what it brings.

“College basketball is great,” Barkley said. What about all the kids that get a good education who become great people? Yeah. There’s some shady stuff going on. But I always look at the big picture. All those kids that go to college for free.”

Barkley also addressed the issue of paying players, noting that it’s not a simple issue.

“I don’t know how to pay ’em. Who do you pay? Do you pay the basketball team? You pay the football team? You pay the girls teams? It’s not that simple.”

Barkley is not wrong. The NCAA does offer a lot of good to athletes. There are notable cases of corruption and other issues (ie: basketball’s ridiculous one-and-done rule). But the NCAA has done a lot good for a lot of people.

The problem is that the issue isn’t just “a few guys that are corrupt.” Even to the extent that it is, the non-corrupt individuals allow the “few corrupt ones” to represent the entire governing body. These are holes that need to be closed. If they aren’t, things will continue to spiral downhill for college athletics.

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