Shauneen Miranda (via Missouri Independent)
Louisiana GOP US Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, speaks during a hearing March 26, 2026, in Washington, DC (Screenshot from the committee’s webcast) WASHINGTON – Mikayla Pivec said she worked more than 50 hours a week as a women’s college basketball player for less than $0 a month, but earned as much as $0. stipend.
The basketball star and former star at Oregon State University said he was testifying at Thursday’s U.S. Senate hearing on reforming college athletics because “the NCAA has failed and continues to fail to protect and respect college athletes.”
Pivec, who worked for a food service and “collected cans” to support himself in college, played for Oregon State before the 2021 NCAA guidelines that allowed student-athletes to earn profits through their name, image and character, or NIL.
Former Oregon State basketball star Mikayla Pivec testifies before the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (Image from committee livestream)
“NIL has helped some players, but many still earn less than $10 an hour and struggle to pay for basic needs,” he told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Work and Pensions.
Pivec said he “needs security more than money,” noting he had a leg injury that required surgery and was denied the “regular MRI” he requested.
He is the co-founder and executive director of the United College Athletes Association, a sports organization dedicated to ensuring that college athletes are protected, educated and adequately compensated.
‘One unfair system
The state of college sports continues to face gender inequality in NIL agreements, numerous state NIL rules, booster teams and the NCAA’s controversial transfer zone, among other issues.
Just last year, a federal judge approved the terms of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that paved the way for schools to pay athletes directly.
At a White House briefing this month, President Donald Trump vowed to issue an executive order aimed at reforming college sports.
Sen. Bill Cassidy, chairman of the Senate HELP Committee, said: “The current situation is just replacing one unfair administration with another.”
“The short-term funding through NIL agreements has overshadowed the quality of education and the quality of the Olympics and women’s sports,” said the Louisiana Republican.
Employees?
A heated debate over whether college athletes should be considered employees took center stage Thursday, drawing differing opinions from senators, experts, leaders and athletes.
“I think the political dynamic is that Republicans and Democrats are not that far from what we agree on – it’s just this little issue that’s holding us back from passing something related to union and how we treat student-athletes, whether we treat them as employees or not,” said Sen. Jim Banks, Republican of Indiana.
A bipartisan bill on recess in the US House aims to create a national framework for college athlete compensation and would prevent college athletes from being considered employees.
The measure would provide broader antitrust protections to the NCAA and college sports conferences.
Sen. Chris Murphy, who advocated for joint negotiations, said he does not want Congress “in the business of regulating junior college sports and how compensation works.”
“That doesn’t feel like our part,” the Connecticut Democrat said, as he criticized the bipartisan bill as “an attempt to put big schools back into a situation where they can meet and suppress earnings.”
Trayvean Scott, vice president of Intercollegiate Athletics at Grambling State University in Louisiana, pointed out the “pressure” that athletic departments in particular, and institutions that do not need a lot of resources, would begin to face as a result of student athletes becoming employees.
“When you look at that, my belief is that the number of players will start to decrease, especially in non-revenue sports, especially on the men’s side,” he said. “For the institution of Grambling State University, where we have 15 Division I sports, that means baseball will probably come first.”
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