By MICHAEL MAROT
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan smiles during a practice session for the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Thursday, April 2, 2015, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
Bo Ryan thinks it’s about time the NCAA and conferences pay up.
He wants the NCAA to help cover travel expenses for the parents of players in every tournament game and league officials to follow the NCAA’s lead in conference tourneys, too.
Ryan, who serves on the executive committee of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, says it has been a hot topic within coaching circles for years. And after the NCAA stepped forward with a pilot program to cover parents’ travel costs for those in this year’s men’s and women’s Final Fours, he believes it’s already time to consider expansion.
The parents of each player in Indianapolis this weekend is eligible for up to $3,000. The winners of Saturday’s games could get another $1,000.
“Isn’t it amazing that the basketball, men’s basketball tournament, men’s basketball, period, pays 90-some percent of the NCAA’s budget, expenses,” Ryan said. “Football had a championship game, correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t the parents get taken care of to go see their kids play in the football championship game?
“What I’m getting at is, all of a sudden football goes to a championship game. Oh, and then, for the men’s Final Four we’re going to take care of the parents for that, too. Well, thank you, that was awfully nice,” Ryan added. “But we think it should be for more.”
The NCAA granted a waiver for the football games, then almost immediately announced it would begin the pilot program for basketball.
Ryan is hardly alone in this mission. NCAA executive vice president for championships and alliances Mark Lewis recently told The Associated Press that coaches in other sports also wanted the governing body to offer a stipend for the parents of their athletes.
But Ryan thinks it shouldn’t stop there.
“Even in our own conference we’ve been trying to lobby for expenses for parents coming to the Big Ten tournament,” Ryan said. “It’s not going to be just in the Midwest, it’s going to be on the East Coast now. From our own conference which makes money from the Big Ten tournament, parents should get some help, some type of stipend.”