Overview: The HBO Sports documentary STUDENT ATHLETE, illuminating the complex rules of amateur athletics in America and showing how they affect uncompensated athletes and their families, debuts TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2 (10:00-11:30 p.m. ET/PT) on HBO. From LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment and Steve Stoute’s United Masters, the feature-length presentation is directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy (HBO’s Oscar winners “Saving Face” and “A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness”) and Trish Dalton (“Bordering on Treason”).
Unpaid college athletes generate billions of dollars for their institutions every year. STUDENT ATHLETE unveils the exploitative world of high-revenue college sports through the stories of four young men at different stages of their athletic careers, as well as a coach-turned-advocate and a whistle-blowing shoe rep who exposes the money trail. The documentary spotlights: former NCAA and NFL coach John Shoop; New Jersey high school basketball phenom Nick Richards, now at the University of Kentucky; Mike Shaw, who played basketball at the University of Illinois and Bradley University; Shamar Graves, a former wide receiver at Rutgers University; and Silas Nacita, a walk-on who played football at Baylor University.
From high-school recruiting to post-graduation, the usefulness of athletes is tied to their ability to produce revenue. Once they can no longer do that, their participation in sport ends – often abruptly – with virtually nothing to show for their contributions.
Expectations: We have always known that the big game that is organized sports has been a big bucks business on every level. We also have known that the athlete has not been given the fair shake. That is a simplified look at the issue. I’m trying not to get caught up in the politics of it all before watching this documentary. I’m sure my ‘gut reaction’ response upon watching the hour and a half film will stir all that up. It has always been big business that won’t change just because LeBron James weighs in. But, I am interested in what has to be said here on the matter.
Gut Reaction: That did not give me what I expected at all. For me, STUDENT ATHLETE did not champion the premise it set out to do effectively enough. Make no mistake that the sports business is unfair and greedy. I thought that this documentary was really going to call out the NCAA a lot harder than it did. Maybe, that all has to do with my take on collegiate sports. I won’t rant on that in detail but since it factors into my thoughts of this documentary I got to give a simple opinion.
Collegiate sport, even if you are given a scholarship, is an extracurricular activity of the school. No student is paid for the extracurricular activities they pursue outside their studies. Are students paid from the Drama Dept. for being in a theatre production or a student compensated by the Biology Dept. for doing fieldwork? It shouldn’t matter how much money is drawn in by any of those programs, in my opinion. However, I do think it wrong to not permit outside sources of income for a needful athlete. Many students get jobs to help finance their education. A student athlete should be able to do the same, even if it is a lucrative endorsement.
Note though, that there is no guarantee that a collegiate player is automatically going professional. There is no guarantee for job placement out of college for any discipline. Hell, how many people do you know that are not working in the field that they have a degree in? Hopes are always set high, but if you get too old, get injured or just aren’t as good as you think you are you are not going to advance in the game. Simple as that. Call me a prick.
So while I am not praising James & the directors for nailing their examination of the collegiate sports system I did enjoy the examinations into the mindset and gameplay of Richards, Shaw, Graves & Nacita. Nick Richards’ journey is one of “put me in the game ‘cause I’m ready to go” and no one is pouncing quite yet on the high schooler. He is in the recruiting process and sees it all as a stepping stone to the NBA. He is eyeing the prize already, but realistically out of the approximate 91,000 college athletes only 300 advance to the NBA or NFL. That is not the NCAA’s fault. Mike Shaw is an injured hopeful; he played college hoops but then a really bad back forced him out of the sport. That unfortunate story can be told but in a documentary meant to indict the NCAA of unfairness? Shaw’s injury was not the NCAA’s fault. 
Shamar Graves is a former athlete still holding out to one day play professionally. As of the film and fell short of playing in the NFL but still strives to do so at 28. How is that the NCAA’s fault?
Silas Nacita is ineligible due to NCAA rules. It is the best example cited in the film of the NCAA shafting a student due to an unfair rule in its books. He took hospitality & room, in a time of need, which was considered unallowable gifts the athlete was not entitled to have. It is a bad rule that needs to be abolished for sure, but rules are rules. John Shoop, former NCCA coach really spells out best the issues the filmmakers wanted to make more so than the bios of each of the players depicted. It is worth the watch at 90 minutes long, but it does not quite champion the goal the filmmakers were after. Having said that though, the athlete stories are what you want to hear.
In Conclusion: It is a good documentary. The story of each of these athletes is worth the telling, but I think a better story could have been told if we are to call out the NCAA. I think I’m in the minority.
