D4 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 LATIMES.COM/SPORTS
time on national sports TV
programs. The attention
flooded Ellis’ hardly used In-
stagram account with follow
requests. But Ellis was still a
college athlete. She did not
have an agent, nor the
agency as part of her agree-
ment with USC to be com-
pensated quickly thanks to
her sudden and fleeting
fame.
“In the moment, it never
crossed my mind,” Ellis said.
“I was just having fun being
happy that people knew
about the sport. But, look-
ing back, I think that I defi-
nitely could have capitalized
off that moment, just be-
cause it was so viral, and it
was bigger than just track. I
kind of wish that I had the
knowledge to take advan-
tage of the opportunity.”
Ellis was reached by
phone Tuesday morning in
Doha, Qatar, where she is
competing as a pro at the
2019 IAFF World Athletics
Championships. She had
seen the news Monday of
California Senate Bill 206 be-
ing signed into law, allowing
the state’s college athletes to
profit from the use of their
name, image and likeness
starting in 2023. She was
glad to see it, but she also
thought about the six
months of uncertainty be-
tween her graduation from
USC and the day she signed
an endorsement contract
with New Balance.
What if that deal never
came, as it won’t for the ma-
jority of female college ath-
letes when their eligibility
runs out?
“Yes, we are essentially
receiving a free education, if
that is covered in your deal,
but I’m just not understand-
ing the harm in compensat-
ing athletes for their image
and likeness,” Ellis said. “I
just think it’s a matter of
people not wanting to
change and falling back on
the old system and saying,
‘Well if it isn’t broke, don’t fix
it.’ But it is broken.”
In the aftermath of SB
206 becoming law, a slough
of statements from college
sports’ stakeholders
streamed into the news cy-
cle, all giving reasons why
SB 206 would be catastroph-
ic for the future of college
sports. One part from the
Pac-12 Conference’s state-
ment jumped out to some
observers: That SB 206
would “have a negative dis-
parate impact on female stu-
dent-athletes.”
The comment sat at the
end of a long paragraph
without further explana-
tion, and it found the desk of
the woman who wrote and
sponsored the bill, Sen.
Nancy Skinner.
“I’m like, you know, yes,
we have Title IX, but let’s
look at the facts,” Skinner
said Tuesday morning.
“First, by the latest study,
men receive 55% of the schol-
arship money from Division
I schools, women only 45%.And yet, women make up
57% of the college student
population. And then if we
look at the amount of money
that goes to men’s sports
versus women’s sports for
recruiting, it’s not equal, not
by a long shot.
“So, when the Pac-12 and
the NCAA are providing real
equity for their women ath-
letes, I’ll listen to them. Oth-
erwise, talk to the hand.”
On Monday, Victoria
Jackson, a 2006 NCAA
champion at Arizona State
in the 10,0000 -meter run and
a sports historian at the
school, took her angst to
Twitter, writing: “Former
Pac-12 national champ here.
Stop using gender equity to
justify racial inequity. Wow is
it disingenuous to throw up
the Title IX shield to justify a
system that is fueled largely
by underpaid black male
athlete labor.”
Reached by the Times
Tuesday, Jackson called it “a
grand irony.”
“It looks like the Pac-12 is
just taking the baton from
the NCAA and is adopting
that rhetoric that has been
used previously by [NCAA
President] Mark Emmert,”
Jackson said.
The Pac-12 wouldn’t ex-
plain its thinking about fe-
male athletes on the record,
but a person familiar with
the conference’s take said it
was based on a couple of fac-
tors: First, looking at how
professional endorsements
are divided by gender, a tinypercentage goes to women.
The expectation is that col-
lege endorsements would
mirror that, which would
only further the inequality
that already exists between
opportunities for men and
women while on campus
that Skinner referenced.
Second, there is an as-
sumption held among col-
lege sports’ power brokers
that, due to SB 206 opening
the floodgates on endorse-
ments and sponsorship for
football and men’s basket-
ball players, boosters would
aim their money at players
in order to secure their com-
mitments to their school in-
stead of making donations
to the athletic department.
If that becomes a trend, one
of the fears is it will cut into
the funding that normally
goes toward supporting
women’s sports teams.
“The Pac-12, it’s like we’re
a house of mirrors,” Skinner
said, “in that they are part of
the male-dominated sports
industry that invests more
money in the men and pro-
motes men’s sports more, so
how do we change that? I
would love if Title IX alone
changed it, but it hasn’t yet.
So we have to empower
women. Is SB 206 going to
make it equal for women?
No. But it gives women a
fighting chance to promote
themselves and by promot-
ing themselves promote
women’s sports overall.”
Skinner said that she was
first drawn to a bill like SB206 because of her belief that
young black men were being
exploited by the NCAA’s lim-
its on compensation. Yet,
when the bill was first
brought to the senate last
winter, she did not hear from
one male athlete, she said.
Instead, she heard from
women like former Stanford
volleyball player Haley Hod-
son and former California
crew standout Erin Cafaro, a
gold-medal-winning
Olympic rower.
“They called me and said,
‘How can we help? We need
this bill so bad. College is
now the only time as women
that our prowess, our talent
as athletes, is even in a spot-
light,’ ” Skinner said.
Recently, Skinner spoke
with former UCLA gymnast
Katelyn Ohashi, who be-
came an overnight sensa-
tion in the spring when her
floor routine went viral.
Skinner said that Ohashi
told her she was over-
whelmed by all of the atten-
tion and requests that came
her way, not wanting to
make a mistake or hurt her
team by breaking an NCAA
rule.
There is no telling how
much money Ohashi could
have made if SB 206 was al-
ready law. Her competitive
gymnastics career is now
over, and she is currently ex-
ploring other avenues, look-
ing to find a new stage for her
talents.
Ellis was able to continue
her career and is trying toearn a spot in the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics. She does not be-
lieve that future profession-
als are the only college ath-
letes who would benefit from
SB 206, though.
“Granted, for certain
companies, that’s what
you’re going to look for,” Ellis
said. “But with this new age
of Instagram influencers
and YouTubers, it doesn’t
necessarily matter if they’re
in the top of the sport. Do
they have a following? Do
they have someone who en-
joys watching them? At that
point, the talent kind of be-
comes secondary.”
Ellis acknowledges that
without her NCAA champi-
onship relay finish her life
probably would not have
been changed that much by
SB 206. She could have pos-
sibly gone back to Florida
and staged camps in her
community or found a place
where her name and image
had value in Los Angeles.
At a minimum, being able
to hire an agent and develop
a relationship while at USC
would have put her in better
position to strike.
“It was just a matter of ex-
posure,” Ellis said. “Track is
not that popular of a sport in
America, and I think that
the more often people can
see your face and see your
name, they are going to look
you up and see why she is on
that billboard, what does
she do, who is she? For me,
other than the money as-
pect, it’s the exposure.”Skinner: SB 206 gives women a fighting chance
[NCAA,from D1]
It was the sunshine and
ocean that drew Hawaii na-
tive Duke Clemensto UCLA
last year. The early playing
time, which included a first
career start at Arizona on
Saturday, has been an added
bonus for the freshman of-
fensive lineman.
“I just came out, working
hard at practice,” Clemens
said, “and coach called my
name.”
On this UCLA team, how-
ever, early accomplishments
such as Clemens’ are becom-
ing common. Just five games
into the second year of coach
Chip Kelly’stenure, the Bru-
ins are already accustomed
to playing underclassmen
on the offensive line.
At left tackle, freshman
Sean Rhyan has been a
starter since the opening
week. At right guard, sopho-
more Christaphany Murray
has also started every game.
At left guard, redshirt fresh-
man Jon Gaines IIwas the
opening-week starter, red-
shirt freshman Alec Ander-
son took over between
Weeks 2 and 4, then Clemens
was inserted Saturday.
The only other Pac-12
schools to start two fresh-
man offensive linemen last
week were Stanford and Ari-
zona State, teams that have
suffered several losses at the
position group early this
season.
“I think it’s a plus that
we’ve got some depth there,”
Kelly said Saturday, trying
to put a positive spin on his
team’s unproven personnel.
“And we continue to develop
it.”
But, amid UCLA’s 1-4
start, the growing pains
along the line have been evi-
dent too.
Behind its inexperienced
front five, UCLA ranks 10th
in the Pac-12 in rushing yards
per game (120.2) and last in
average time of possession
(26:36). Only Arizona State,
California and Oregon have
more sacks allowed than
UCLA’s 12. The Bruins also
have had to adjust their play
calls around their raw rota-
tion of linemen.
“Things like that are
predicated on what are
those [young offensive line-
men] comfortable with, and
where are they,” Kelly said.
“That’s just the reality of
where they are. Whether it’s
Duke and Alec, or Sean and
Alec, and Sean and Duke, it’s
first-year starters, and
that’s what we have to kind
of game-plan around.”
Some indicators have
trended up lately. The team
rushed for 150 yards against
Washington State two weeks
ago, then went for 217 yards
on the ground against Arizo-
na. The Bruins also won the
time-of-possession battle in
Tucson and allowed just twosacks.
“Our offense is coming
around, being a balanced of-
fense,” said receiver Jaylen
Erwin. “It’s going to take one
game to put everything to-
gether and show everybody
we really can do it, be consis-
tent with it.”
Clemens, who before his
start at Arizona also re-
ceived significant playing
time during the Bruins’
dramatic second-half come-
back against Washington
State, can attest to personal
strides. He said his hand po-
sitioning is better. His block-
ing technique is more sound.
He continues to add weight
to his 6-foot-3, 273-pound
frame. “[Offensive line]
coach [Justin] Fryealways
says to incorporate one new
thing in practice to correct
and fix,” Clemens said. “I’ve
been trying to do that, to
work on my craft.”
Yet, for both Clemens
and the Bruins’ youthful
front, there is still a long
process ahead.
“There’s always things to
correct,” Clemens said.
“[Last week] may look good
on the stats, but we’re never
satisfied with what we put
on the field. We’re always
trying to get better. Even
though that may have been
our best rushing game, we
still have things to fix.”Erwin losing sleep
Jaylen Erwin’s nights
have been a little longer
lately. After dropping a pass
in the fourth quarter Sat-
urday, the junior receiver re-
mained bothered by the
memory.
“The past two days, I
couldn’t really sleep,” he
said. “I was just thinking
about that play. I just know,
whenever the ball is thrown
to me, I’ve got to make that
play.”
Erwin, UCLA’s second-leading receiver with 195
yards, has dropped throws
before. He knows it’s an in-
evitable reality of playing the
position. Usually, he quickly
moves on. He said time is dif-
ferent, however, because it
hindered an offense already
operating with a thin margin
for error.
The pass Erwin missed
was the first thrown by
backup quarterback Austin
Burton, who entered the
game in the second half in re-
lief of injured starter Dorian
Thompson-Robinson. It
came with the Bruins trail-
ing by three points and try-
ing to march down the field.
Though it was only first
down, he believed it stalled a
possession that eventually
ended in a punt.
“That play could have
possibly been a jump spark
for us to score that touch-
down,” Erwin said. “We’ve
got to make the plays. Do
nothing more than what our
job is to do.”
A few restless nights re-
moved from UCLA’s latest
defeat, Erwin thought his
drop was a microcosm of the
Bruins’ offensive struggles.
Too often, the unit has been
unable to get out of its own
way.
Despite “several mis-
takes throughout the game,
we were still in the game to
the end,” Erwin said. “It’s
not something we need to
change. We need to make the
most of our opportunities,
cash in on them.”Etc.
Junior safety Quentin
Lake practiced Tuesday,
while senior receiver Theo
Howardand junior safety
Mo Osling IIIworked with a
trainer on the sideline dur-
ing the portion of practice
open to the media. None of
those three played at Arizo-
na.UCLAfreshman offensive lineman Sean Rhyan has
been the team’s starter since the opening week.Rick ScuteriAssociated PressUCLA REPORT
Young offensive line
has shown promise
By Jack HarrisAs soon as Kedon Slovis’
head hit the Coliseum turf,
everything went dark.
For a few moments, just
two plays into an upset win
over Utah, the USC fresh-
man quarterback lay on his
back, blacked out. The first
thing he remembers hear-
ing, as he regained con-
sciousness, was the voice of
running back Vavae Male-
peai, telling him to stay
down. But his instinct told
him to stay in the game, so
Slovis tried to stand up. As
he did, he stumbled and
blacked out again.
The concussion Slovis
suffered on that opening
drive would ultimately keep
him out for the majority of
two games, including all of
USC’s trip to Washington,
where his replacement,
Matt Fink, had three passes
intercepted in a Pac-12 Con-
ference defeat.
But on Tuesday, just a
few days after his concus-
sion symptoms finally sub-
sided, Slovis was cleared to
return to noncontact prac-
tice.
The timing of his return
suggests that Slovis will al-
most certainly reprise his
role as starting quarterback
when the Trojans visit No. 9
Notre Dame after the week
off.
“He’s not cleared for con-
tact yet,” coach Clay Helton
said, “but it’s good to get him
out here, get him throwing
and get him exerted. We’ll go
through the week allowing
both quarterbacks to get
better and we’ll see where we
are medically heading into
next week.”
Last week, as USC found
itself down to a single schol-
arship quarterback in the
wake of his injury, Slovis was
unable to shake a constant
headache. While the Trojans
basked in the afterglow of a
huge Pac-12 win over Utah,
he spent the Sunday after
his injury lying in a dark, qui-
et room.
It wasn’t the first time he
experienced the aftermath
of a concussion. A year ago,
in his senior season at
Desert Mountain High in
Scottsdale, Ariz., Slovis suf-
fered one in almost identical
fashion, as his head
slammed into the turf after a
hit.
“But I popped right back
up,” Slovis said. “The symp-
toms didn’t hit until like two
drives later. My vision got
really blurry, so I couldn’t see
the signals on the sideline.
That’s when I knew some-
thing was up.”
Slovis assured on Tues-
day that he no longer felt any
concussion symptoms. Still,
with a week off upon them,
USC’s staff isn’t going to
take any chances.
On Tuesday, Fink said he
was still preparing as if he
were the starter. But offen-
sive coordinator Graham
Harrellmade clear that, as-
suming Slovis has a clean bill
of health by next Saturday,
he’ll return to his spot atop
the depth chart.
“The most important
thing is for him to get heal-
thy,” Harrell said. “When he
does get healthy, I’d plan on
playing him.”
His last performance
while fully healthy, though,
was hardly a memorable
one. Three weeks ago, in
overtime against Brigham
Young, Slovis threw a back-
breaking interception, his
third that day, in overtime.
“He’s still a true fresh-
man,” Harrell reiterated on
Tuesday. “At times, a true
freshman is going to make
some mistakes.”
Those turnovers were a
problem again last week,even with Slovis out of the
lineup, as two of Fink’s three
interceptions came in par-
ticularly brutal circum-
stances.
Ironing out those issues
will be of the utmost impor-
tance before USC takes to
the road again. No team in
the nation has been better in
turnover margin than Notre
Dame, which has forced 13
turnovers in five weeks,
while giving the ball away
just four times. USC, on the
other hand, ranks 124th in
the nation in turnover mar-
gin at minus-seven.
Slovis, back for his first
practice in over a week, be-
lieves there’s an easy fix.
“You just have to stay dis-
ciplined,” Slovis said. “On
every single interception
that me and Matt have had,
it’s the same thing, just stay-
ing disciplined. If we go
through our reads, we’re not
going to have that issue.”Etc.
Safety Talanoa Hufanga,
who also spent the last week
in concussion protocol, was
cleared to return to noncon-
tact practice. He should play
against Notre Dame. ... Cor-
nerback Olaijah Griffin
(back) was a full participant
Tuesday after sitting out the
Washington game. ... A deci-
sion is expected soon on
whether offensive guard An-
drew Vorhees, who’s dealing
with a foot injury, will play
again this season. Vorhees is
eligible to be a redshirt. ...
Helton said he hopes “this is
a week that allows us to
catch up healthwise,” and as
such, several players were
given the day off Tuesday in
order to recover from nag-
ging injuries, including
Malepeai (knee), wideout
Amon-ra St. Brown(foot,
shoulder) and defensive end
Christian Rector(high an-
kle sprain).USC REPORT
Slovis cleared to return
to noncontact practice
By Ryan Kartje
USC QUARTERBACKKedon Slovis, who suffered a concussion in an upset win
over Utah, missed most of that game plus the next one against Washington.
Robert GauthierLos Angeles Times