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Reviewed by Robert A. Groves for Readers' Favorite
Let’s face it. College sports are a wheel of economic opportunity for institutions of higher education. In Semi-Pro: The Arc of College Sports from Amateur Ideal to Professional Reality, Clay M. Grayson captures the input and throughput of modern student-athletes into that wheel. He brings readers through the pivotal milestones of amateur sports, with a focus on football and basketball, as they become profit-driven enterprises. Grayson does a deep dive into the tensions NCAA policies have created between education and commercialization. He also brings together the political, economic, and cultural factors shaping the move from amateur to professional student-athletes. The closing discussion of student rights as they apply to participation in sports ties together all the book’s themes. Readers are left with a remaining question: Will college sports lose their purity from these changes?
Semi-Pro by Clay M. Grayson is both timely and needed. The author conveys his knowledge with clarity and scholarly precision. His grammar and syntax are polished, lending authority to his writing on this topic. I appreciated his ability to connect past financial scandals to modern debates about compensation and ethics. Lastly, the discussion of how to compensate student-athletes was fascinating to read. Many of us jump to the conclusion that students will be paid a fixed salary for participating in sports. When you read Grayson’s analysis, you will find many ways are being considered. I recommend Semi-Pro to readers interested in the intersection of history, policy, and sport.
