Riley Gaines: College sports is broken – here’s how to fix it

Charles Barkley calls the NCAA 'idiots' and 'fools' during an appearance on OutKick's "Don't @ Me with Dan Dakich."

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know the NCAA is drowning in problems. And time and again, it’s managed to land on the wrong side of nearly all of them: Name, image and likeness, the transfer portal, eligibility rules, men competing in women’s sports. The list grows longer by the day, and leadership continues to fall short.

Earlier this week, University of Arkansas men’s basketball coach John Calipari spent nearly seven minutes in a press conference laying bare to what so many inside college athletics already know: the system is broken. He didn’t mince words. He gave the NCAA some guidance on how to stop operating as a corrupt sports enterprise ("fugazi" as he put it), so college sports can actually serve the athletes who make it possible.

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Head coach John Calipari of the Arkansas Razorbacks talks with an official in the second half against the Queens Royals at Bud Walton Arena on Dec. 16, 2025 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

After the clips went viral, Calipari doubled down on X, writing, "I will continue to use whatever influence I have to ensure the health and longevity of our game."

I spent four years at the University of Kentucky while Calipari coached there, and I can tell you I have never seen him fired up in a press conference (and he was known for being fiery). And he’s far from alone. His outrage is not only understandable, it’s justified.

Higher education itself is facing a reckoning. Enrollment is slipping. Tuition is exploding. Parents are questioning whether four years and six figures are worth it,