Chapel Hill, N.C.–”You may get the idea that I’m somehow anti-NCAA or that I’m a critic of the NCAA,” Jay Bilas said in all seriousness. “I’m critical, but I love college sports. I believe in what the NCAA is supposed to stand for–I just don’t think they always stand up for that.”

That’s how one of the NCAA’s biggest critics started his keynote address at the annual conference of the College Sport Research Institute here Thursday. Then, over the next hour, the ESPN analyst picked apart the many contradictions he sees in the association.

Among his criticism:

Amateurism, the bedrock principle upon which NCAA sports is based, is a sham. “Amateurism doesn’t provide us with anything of real value. It doesn’t make a person a better student. It doesn’t enhance their education. It doesn’t make them a better teammate,” he said. “All it does is provide a cap among college athletes.”
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