A Critical Discourse Analysis of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Response to the Federal Investigation Into Men’S College Basketball
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University of Connecticut OpenCommons@UConn Master's Theses University of Connecticut Graduate School 11-25-2019 A Critical Discourse Analysis of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Response to the Federal Investigation into Men’s College Basketball Max Klein University of Connecticut - Storrs, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://opencommons.uconn.edu/gs_theses Recommended Citation Klein, Max, "A Critical Discourse Analysis of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Response to the Federal Investigation into Men’s College Basketball" (2019). Master's Theses. 1453. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/gs_theses/1453 This work is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Connecticut Graduate School at OpenCommons@UConn. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of OpenCommons@UConn. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A Critical Discourse Analysis of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Response to the Federal Investigation into Men’s College Basketball Max Klein B.S., University of Connecticut, 2017 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Degree of Master of Science At the University of Connecticut 2019 ii Copyright by Max Klein 2019 iii APPROVAL PAGE Master of Science Thesis A Critical Discourse Analysis of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Response to the Federal Investigation into Men’s College Basketball Presented by Max Klein, B.S. Major Advisor_______________________________________________________________ Joseph Cooper Associate Advisor____________________________________________________________ Laura Burton Associate Advisor____________________________________________________________ Jennifer McGarry Associate Advisor____________________________________________________________ Mansour Ndiaye University of Connecticut 2019 iv Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to thank my parents and sister, Ali, for their unwavering support throughout my studies. I am lucky to have a family that loves and supports me unconditionally. I would also like to thank my advisor Dr. Cooper for his constant support and guidance throughout my early research career. Without you, I would not have the skills or confidence to complete and thesis and pursue a career in academia. I want to thank the other members of my thesis committee, Dr. Burton, Dr. McGarry, and Dr. Ndiaye, for their advice and encouragement. Dr. Burton, thank you for allowing me to grow as a student, as a researcher, and as a person by meeting with me and providing your knowledge of sport research, academia as a field, and in life. Your knowledge of escalation of commitment helped to improve this thesis significantly. Dr. McGarry, thank you for bringing your exemplarily research skills to my committee and immediately being willing to assist in my academic growth. You helped transform my methods section for this thesis and subsequent publications. Dr. Ndiaye, thank you for providing your unique legal perspective and research insight to guide this thesis and guide me in my research career. Your ideas on the quantitative aspects helped to refine my findings and make this thesis a more natural read. Lastly, I would like to thank Charles Macaulay, Ajhanai Newton, and Julia Wold for helping me understand what it takes to complete and thesis and doing whatever you could to support me. I would not have been able to complete this thesis without the three of you. v Table of Contents Title Page ........................................................................................................................................ i Copyright Page ............................................................................................................................... ii Approval Page ............................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... v Abstract ........................................................................................................................................ vii Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Statement of Problem ......................................................................................................... 5 Purpose of Study ................................................................................................................ 6 Research Questions ............................................................................................................ 7 Significance of Study ......................................................................................................... 7 Definiton of Terms ............................................................................................................. 8 Chapter 2: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 11 Historical Context of Amateurism and the NCAA .......................................................... 11 Challenges to Amateurism ................................................................................................ 15 “Clashing Models” for College Sport Reform ................................................................. 19 Amateurism Research ...................................................................................................... 22 Race and College Sport Research .................................................................................... 25 Theoretcial Framework .................................................................................................... 27 vi Escalation of Commitment ................................................................................... 28 Interest Convergence ........................................................................................... 29 Chapter 3: Methods ................................................................................................................... 32 Sampling and Data Collection ......................................................................................... 33 Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 36 Limitations ....................................................................................................................... 38 Delimitations ..................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 4: Findings ................................................................................................................... 40 NCAA Response ............................................................................................................... 40 Research Question #1: The Collegiate Model ..................................................... 45 Research Question #2: Dominant Racial Ideologoy ........................................... 47 Non-NCAA Entity Response ............................................................................................ 50 Research Question #3: Non-NCAA Entity Comparison ...................................... 54 Chapter 5: Discussion ................................................................................................................ 58 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 66 Implications for Policy and Research .............................................................................. 66 References .................................................................................................................................... 69 Appendix A: Subjectivity Statement ........................................................................................... 88 Appendix B: Codebook ................................................................................................................ 90 vii Abstract On September 27, 2017, the Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) arrested ten individuals connected to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I men’s basketball for charges, including bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering. In response to the public release of this investigation, the NCAA formed the Commission on College Basketball (CCB) to address “fairness and opportunity for college athletes, coupled with the enforcement capability to hold accountable those who undermine the standards of our community” (Emmert, 2017). Ultimately, the purpose of this study is to analyze the NCAA’s response to the FBI investigation into men’s college basketball. The creation of the CCB as a direct result of the FBI investigations, coupled with the recommendations for reform, suggest the NCAA is more concerned with protecting their ideological hegemony than improving the quality of life of and professional development opportunities for collegiate athletes. Additionally, college sport reform groups and public media responses to the investigation, as critical of the NCAA (Medcalf, 2018; Wolken, 2018; The drake group, n.d.; Knight