For decades upon decades now, even as public sentiment and evolved thinking have broken against it, the NCAA has tried to hold the hardest of lines.
It dragged its feet on things as reasonable as granting small stipends to student-athletes who need basic spending money and can’t get part-time jobs due to the demands of being a Division I athlete. Why? Because it could, until it finally couldn’t.
It refused to act on Name, Image and Likeness rules that prohibit players from making money from other people. Why? Because it could, until, starting July 1 in a handful of states, it won’t be able to any longer.