On Saturday, Rutgers senior captain Geo Baker made national headlines for responding to the NCAA March Madness Instagram account and comparing student-athletes lack of name, image, and likeness rights to “modern day slavery.” While Baker upset many with that comparison, his argument regarding NIL rights is an important one and his comments on social media brought this issue to light. I wrote in response to Baker’s comments here that he deserved respect and support for speaking out, which I stand by.
After Sunday’s 64-56 victory over Northwestern, Baker clarified his comments from the Instagram post and head coach Steve Pikiell spoke about his thoughts on the comments, as well as his conversation the two had about it.