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Black Market
- An Insider's Journey into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball
- Narrated by: James Shippy
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
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Publisher's Summary
From a former college basketball player and shoe rep for Nike, this explosive insider's account into the dark underworld of college basketball exposes the corrupt and racist systems that exploit young athletes and offers a new way forward
For Merl Code, basketball was life. In college he played point guard for Clemson before turning pro. Later, with a keen eye for talent and vested interest in the basketball community, he pivoted to marketing, where he was eager to build relationships with young athletes who might one day become ambassadors for Nike and Adidas. But as his network expanded and his responsibilities as a shoe rep grew, he found himself thrust into the dark underbelly of profit-driven college basketball programs, and the storied coaches who led them. He realized that the NCAA's amateurism rules, which prohibit athletes from receiving compensation until they go pro, were exploiting young athletes, and athletes of color in particular. Colleges and universities, he observed, were using corporate sponsors to circumvent the NCAA's bylaws, and employees like Code were stuck in the middle.
Now, for the first time, Code will share his side of the explosive story of college basketball's dark reality. Code has engaged with the sport at every level - from the AAU circuit, to college recruiting battles, to wooing NBA stars to sign sneaker deals. He’s been responsible for recruiting athletes like Zion Williamson, Anthony Davis, and Giannis Antetokounmpo to endorse the shoes of his employers. But Code has also seen the darker side of college basketball. He recounts how he became the fall guy for a bribery scandal involving payments to college and high school athletes, while the storied coaches implicated by the FBI were not charged and still walk the sidelines.
Highlighting stories of real athletes and their families and what’s at stake for them, Code pulls back the curtain on the systemic problem of using players for financial gain in college athletics. Propulsive, urgent, and eye-opening, Black Market exposes the truth to offer a more just way forward for both colleges and athletes.
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What listeners say about Black Market
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Jaysuri Johnson
- 04-17-22
Great book on what REALLY goes on in the NCAA!!!
Great book on what REALLY goes on in the NCAA!!!
Highly recommend you read it. Great job Merl…
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- Anonymous User
- 04-08-22
A true exposé
A true exposè on indentured servitude masked as amateur sports. The history of how Clemson University came to be says it all.
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- Daniel Jones
- 04-07-22
Essential Reading for Every College Basketball Fan
I found this book fascinating and incredibly troubling at the same time. While I think we are all aware that the NCAA's definition of "amateur athletics" is outdated and unrealistic, I was amazed to learn just how many people - shoe companies, AAU Coaches, College representatives, and just about everyone else involved with a young man who dreams of playing college basketball - are working around the hapless NCAA, and the even more hapless FBI, who promised us to "revolutionize" college basketball with its seemingly pointless investigation. The author has his own agenda, which comes through. But that doesn't mean he's wrong.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-22-22
He Got Game (the fifth foul on the system is here)
As Spike Lee filmed it, and P.E., put it on wax, "the game behind the game," is exposed.
Follow the money, and cover the corporate corruption, we continue to pay (more than) "mental rent to corporate presidents."
The snap shots into this world is interesting.
The cognitive dissonance required to keep clean as addicted consumers in this game makes one think.
The case is laid out. the essay is written well with its thesis, points, evidence, and explanations.
if you wanna see how the game behind the game fouls out, this is for you.
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- Linda C. Allen
- 03-10-22
A Must Read for College Sports Fans
Not like we don’t know that money flows through college sports. Merl Code explains who profits the most, and it isn’t the college athlete. The victims of the FBI sting discussed in this book were the kids. The NCAA, colleges and coaches need to be held accountable.
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- patricia yeargin
- 03-04-22
"NO JUSTICE" FOR OUR YOUTH
loved this Book !!
so happy that Lil Merl opened the window to give us a True GLIMPSE Into the sports 'underground'.
However, it is so sad that another young Black youth has rrceived NO JUSTICE