As the business and policy landscape of college athletics continues to evolve, most notably concerning name, image, and likeness (NIL), Ajah Hawley-Alexander, a clinical lecturer in the Media & Strategic Communication Department of Iona University, continues her research and advocacy for student-athletes.
This winter, Hawley-Alexander participated in the Vanderbilt Sports & Activism symposium as a panelist in a session about race, gender, and the economics of college athletics. “My focus was on what my research has been, which is the valuation of student-athletes, especially Black student-athletes,” said Hawley-Alexander, currently also a doctoral student in higher education administration.
In her research, she’s examining the professionalization of college sports, mainly men’s basketball, and how it’s going to affect the NBA G League, which is a developmental league. Hawley-Alexander had direct experience with the G League during her time with the Westchester Knicks. “I’m curious to understand the longevity of developmental leagues,” she said. “I’m looking at the money that is being generated within collegiate athletics men’s basketball, the money that’s being allocated to players … for the G League … I’m curious to know how that pipeline is going to shift.”
Last month, Hawley-Alexander helped plan and facilitate the inaugural NCAA Legacy Lab, where she led a workshop on NIL-era brand strategy for student-athletes and served as a judge for the Hustle Bowl entrepreneurship competition. In her workshop, “Market Like a Boss,” she spoke about the opportunities of NIL. “Now, there’s an opportunity for athletes participating in NIL to be able to market themselves because there is an appetite there for fans to want to get that content that doesn’t necessarily come from the conduits of the institution,” she said.
She also took part in the Inclusive Sports Summit at the University of Colorado Boulder, presenting about NIL, algorithmic bias, and racial capital for Black student-athletes. Earlier this week, Hawley-Alexander was on the panel “The Crisis of Collegiate Black Male Athlete Identity: Education, Work, and Democracy” at the Hunter College National Center for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions.
“I want to make sure that the work that I’m doing is important, pertinent, and necessary … and continue to make sure that not only am I walking through these doors, but I’m leaving them open,” said Hawley-Alexander. “I want the research that I’m doing to have an impact.”
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