Rose Katz is the third year head coach of the Arcadia University Women’s Basketball team.
She was hired in April of 2014, making her the 11th head coach in the history of Arcadia’s basketball program. Within her first two seasons coaching at Arcadia, she has a record of 22-29 and had a player with 2 first team All-MAC Commonwealth Conference selections. She has had 7 players belong to the MAC Honor Roll and 1 academic All-Mac selection. In her first season, she led the team to a MAC playoff run with a 12-14 record and had a 10-15 season her second year.
Rose Katz was born November 4, 1985 in Voorhees, New Jersey. Katz came from Emory & Henry college where she helped turn the struggling program around. She had coached a scholar-athlete of the year there in the Old Dominion Conference. There she was a part of the Student Athlete Academic Counsel, which she now leads at Arcadia. She also was an assistant coach at Widener University where she held a 53- 29 record. She made a trip to the national quarterfinals in her 2012-2013 season while coaching an All-American.
She started at the AAU level coaching for the South Jersey Jazz. From 2004 to 2007 she had 2 of the top 10 finishes at the AAU National Tournament. In 2008, she began coaching the Philadelphia Belles AAU team where she ended up winning the 2008 Boo Williams tournament and was runner-up in the USJN tournament that took place in Washington, DC.
Not only did Katz coach basketball, but she also had a successful 4 years at DeSales University, serving as the team captain her final year. In the 2007-2008 season the Bulldogs had a 26-4 record, won the Freedom Conference, and made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. In 2005, she helped the team to an ECAC Division III South Conference championship. She earned her bachelor’s degree at DeSales for sport management and received a master’s from Drexel University.
Recently it has come to the attention of players and fans that the NCAA has become one of the largest businesses. Just over the course of the March Madness Tournament, they make over $1 billion thanks to a $700,000 ad rate for a 30-second ad. The NCAA makes about $6 billion annually. With this being said, it has become a problem that the NCAA is looked at as a monopoly and receives all this money without compensation for the players who are ultimately working for them.
I interviewed Rose Katz, head coach of Arcadia’s Women’s Basketball team to see what she had to say about this controversial issue.
Do you believe a college athlete puts their bodies at risk for serious problems later in life?
“Obviously. Athletes have the risk of injuries every time they step onto the field or court. It’s ridiculous the things they put their bodies through. In reality, I don’t know who’d be stupid enough to do it, but it’s for the love of the game, right?”
How much revenue do you think a college athlete brings in?
“Um..I’d say probably about $2,000 for a football player, depending if they’re a starter or not. Maybe $1,000 for a basketball player. The other sports, probably like $50,” she said with a giggle.
Do you think it’s fair that they don’t get compensated?
“I don’t think college athletes should get paid, but I also don’t understand how or why the NCAA needs to make this much money. They’re like a monopoly now, it’s ridiculous. I believe scholarships and the stipends they receive are enough. The amount of gear and extras that DI schools receive is probably worth what they’d get paid anyways, so what’s the difference? They’re going there for school, not to get rich. If they’re good enough, they’ll go pro and get money from that. College is college for a reason. You’re basically supposed to be broke.”
Did you know that 60 percent of NBA players are broke within 5 years of retirement?
“No I didn’t know that, but I definitely believe it. Those guys spend, spend, spend on such unnecessary things like cars and houses. If you’re not one of the bests, you make a lot but not enough to supply for your expensive needs and they’re not smart enough to save it. The fame gets the best of them. This is why there’s a show called WAGS to make fun of them..”
What’s your opinion on that?
“Like I said before, they’re pretty stupid. It’s a shame, but they need to learn to save if they’re not going to go to college. They’ll go from pro basketball player to pro hamburger flipper real fast.”
Do you consider a scholarship getting paid for an athlete or do you believe they should receive more?
“That’s more than enough! There’s no reason they need more than that. Their schools paid for, most of their food is paid for if not all, they receive tons of free gear, ugh.. It kind of makes me mad how they take all that for granted when my girls have to pay for almost all their gear."
Will paying a college athlete take away from the game?
“Oh definitely, 100 percent. It’ll change to a pro game, and we all know college is better than NBA, NFL, or MLB. The competition wouldn’t be there because everyone would go to the school that could pay them more.”
How would you split it up if college athletes did get paid since Football is the highest revenue generating?
“Hm.. that’s tough. I guess I would pay football players the most, men basketball players the second most, women’s basketball following, and then the rest the less amount like maybe $100 a semester.”
Would you not pay some sports like swimming/tennis/golf?
“If that’s an option, I wouldn’t pay them. They probably lost more money than make depending on the school.”
What about the difference between DI, DII, and DIII?
“DI would be receiving way more money, I don’t even know if DIII would receive any. DII would be close to DIII.”
Where does the STUDENT-athlete come into this?
“Ultimately, I’ll always believe the student part comes first so if someone is clearly choosing a college on who’s paying them more or who has the best record, it’s disappointing. I’d rather have a kid that’s not that good but focuses on getting everything done to the best of their ability than a kid who is great but just came for basketball and doesn’t even go to class.”
After interviewing Coach Katz, it was a clear interpretation that she didn’t believe a college athlete should be paid. It would change the game completely and would completely lose the aspect of student-athlete. Athletes receive compensation through scholarships and stipends so therefore, there is no reason for them to be receiving a paycheck for something they wanted to do.
References used:
“Should NCAA Athletes Be Paid?” US News & World Report. Accessed October 19, 2016. http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/should-ncaa-athl...
“Should College Athletes Be Paid? | SmartAsset.com.” Accessed October 19, 2016. https://smartasset.com/insights/should-student-ath...
