Dr. Craig White took over as Millikin University's Director of Athletics and Recreation in June 2012. Under White's leadership, Millikin has added wrestling, women's triathlon, and men's volleyball to its varsity sport lineup. White has directed the construction of the Workman Family Softball Field that opened in 2017 and the Workman Family Baseball Field that opened in September 2019.
White joined the Millikin staff with over 19 years of athletic administration experience. Prior to coming to Millikin, White was an Associate Athletic Director at the University of Georgia. White worked in the Georgia Athletic Department since 1992. Beginning in 2004, White has supervised the University of Georgia’s Baseball, Men’s and Women’s Golf, Men’s and Women’s Soccer, Softball, Men’s and Women’s Tennis, Men’s and Women’s Track & Field, Men’s and Women’s Cross Country, and Women’s Volleyball programs. He was responsible for Georgia’s Strength & Conditioning, Sports Medicine, Ticket Office and Sport Psychology departments. While at Georgia, White served as Assistant Athletic Director, Sports Psychology Consultant and Academic Counselor.
Prior to the University of Georgia, White was the Director of the Sunflower State Games in Kansas from 1989-1991. He has also worked in the Athletic Departments at the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri. White was also a Graduate Assistant Football Coach at Missouri.
White was a two-year starting wide receiver at the University of Missouri and played in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills as a wide receiver from 1984-1985.
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The changes in college athletics we are seeing have taken place at a breathtaking speed - and at the same time, have been developing for a while. No one really has a handle on what’s going on. Instead, those who work in the space are pontificating and philosophizing on what should be happening or where we should be heading.
Back when the Knight Commission was taking place, academics were paramount, the highest priority. Our goal was to increase graduation rates and offer college athletes the ability to be true students. I think that the recent development has taken us five steps in the opposite direction, essentially treating Division 1 student-athletes as professional ones.
It seems to me that the combination of the new NIL policy and the transfer portal has created an environment where everything happens at once. What results is a landscape where it’s difficult for universities, coaches, players, and families to keep up with all the changes taking place. You may feel like you finally understand the rules - and then new rules come out immediately thereafter.
I’m curious to see what happens next - I think it will be fascinating to watch. In a sense, Division 1 athletes have always kind of been pro athletes. They got paid - albeit poorly through athletic scholarships. Well, now they just got a pay increase, and I don’t know where the increase ends. Football is still football - the most popular sport in the country, and now money gets you better recruits and positions you better for championships. I, personally, think we are headed toward contracts for players, in some fashion.
I think we are in a really interesting place right now because people in Division 1 know that something’s not right. You have quarterbacks signing with schools for large sums of money, playing a year, and then entering the transfer portal. Players will always be able to transfer, but the other controls are not there yet - for both athletic programs and the players and their families.
That’s why I think contracts are the next step. College athletics is a business, and by implementing a contract structure, universities can have a little more control because the athletes will be employees.
Another issue with this environment is the academic piece. When financial incentives are introduced, priorities change. The goals shift from getting a degree to marketing yourself to make as much money as possible - which is understandable because the incentive structures have changed. But what was once a sociology exam that was hard to study for because of an upcoming game becomes all the harder to study for because money is involved.
Maybe down the line, we stop referring to certain Division 1 athletes as “student-athletes.” Or we implement a system where part of a contract requires the athlete to return to college for his or her degree after their professional career ends. There are numerous avenues to pursue to create an environment that maintains the integrity and importance of education for these athletes - we just have to get there.
I think that with any sort of seismic change, there will always be new opportunities. It may not seem like it right now, with all of the confusion and somewhat negative public opinion of the current landscape. But creative ways exist to both support the athletes financially for the revenue they bring to the school, while also not losing sight of the importance of a degree.
So few players actually make it professionally, and even fewer have sustained success at the professional level. As a result, the degree will always hold importance, so finding a way to sustain that importance in the minds of players and the broader environment is a puzzle that those involved must figure out.
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