Charles Barkley slams college basketball, NIL: ‘Don’t think that’s a sustainable model’

Charles Barkley thinks college basketball has a major NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) problem, believing the model isn’t sustainable.

With Barkley visiting his alma mater for Auburn’s men’s basketball game with Ole Miss Wednesday night, he joined the ESPN broadcast for about 15 minutes to discuss topics that ranged between barbecue and dry cleaning.

But when play-by-play voice Karl Ravech asked about the state of college basketball, Barkley painted a rather bleak picture.

Charles Barkley – “One of the great travesties of this country is what we charge these kids to go to college.” pic.twitter.com/jpJofI0RE5

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 27, 2025

“I think we got to have a talk about college basketball. I don’t think the model of NIL is sustainable,” Barkley said. “I want all these kids to get whatever they can get, but asking colleges to come up with $20-$30 million per year, especially some of the smaller schools, I don’t think that’s a sustainable model.

“I love these kids, I want them to do well, but you’ve got to understand, most of these kids get a free education, which is by far and away the most important thing, because one of the great travesties of this country is what we charge these kids to go to college. We need to find a way to make sure the smaller schools can compete.”

Barkley made some fair points there. The burgeoning cost of a college education in the United States is an issue. And there’s no question free education is a great benefit to athletes on scholarship. But if we agree that a college education is priced too high, then we’re also admitting the value of a free education is inflated. It undermines top college athletes to believe free education is fair compensation for what their value is to their school and sport.

NIL is not perfect and it’s not for the better of college sports. But it is for the better of the college athlete. Athletes who, for decades, were taken advantage of by the NCAA in college basketball and football.