Mark Emmert responds to Ben Simmons ripping NCAA

Earlier this week, an excerpt from Showtime's One and Done revealed Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ben Simmons blasting the NCAA, noting "Everybody's making money except the players" and saying the organization "is really [expletive] up."

NCAA president Mark Emmert didn't focus on those comments. Instead, according to The Advocate, he recently mentioned Simmons' take on going to college for one year ("They say education, but if I'm there for a year, I can't get much education."):

I was reading today where someone who played basketball at LSU was very unhappy with the one-and-done rule. That's not our rule. That's the NBA's rule. But (he says) it's another stupid NCAA rule. …

The one-and-done rule is something I've made no secret about how much I dislike it. It makes a farce of going to school. But if you just want to play in the NBA, you can do that. You can go to Europe or play at a prep school until you're 19. …

"If someone wants to be a pro basketball player and doesn't want to go to college, don't go to college. We don't put a gun to your head. First and foremost, it's about being a student at a university. We're in the human development business."

Emmert reiterated the argument that is central to the NCAA's mission and an argument that counters critics like Simmons: "These kids have to be students."