I wrote about The Players Trunk for GQ and there's some Jayhawk stuff in there
First of all—sorry for the slight delay in Streak Talk action. I had the idea that I was going to wait until the article I mentioned in the headline was published before I wrote about the Jayhawk-specific implications of the topic, only to realize that… I didn’t really need the link to do that. But here’s the link anyway!
In this piece for GQ, I talked to Charles Matthews, the former Michigan guard who started a consignment site called The Players Trunk for former college athletes to offload surplus athletic gear. Going through the list of “trunks”—which represent each player’s individual consignment portal—you’ll recognize plenty of names if you’re a college hoops fan. Two of our own, Tyshawn Taylor and Udoka Azubuike, have trunks on the site, featuring items priced as low as $35-$40. There are some hardcore grails on the site, but for the most part the offerings are accessible. As someone who has skin in the game-used items marketplace, I was on the edge of my seat when I browsed The Players Trunk for the first time.
Right now, the concept of amateurism is changing on a daily basis, and the end result will reveal a radically different college athletics landscape. It’s been interesting to see which ideas have gotten the most splash-back—let’s just say that the Power 5 conference admins aren’t having the whole “athletes get 50% of TV revenue” concept outlined by dissenting players—and which ideas the general (sports fan) public seems to have never cared about in the first place. I feel like “a little extra cash for players” falls into the latter category.
The Players Trunk represents something right on that line, I think. While many of the players featured on the site are now pro athletes in some capacity, no one is quite famous or wealthy enough for their consignment store to feel like a shameless and unnecessary cash grab. If you total up Udoka Azubuike’s entire store, for example, it’s less than $1k. While making $1k off of clothes you don’t want is a good situation no matter who you are, it’s not life-changing money. But for an athlete like Doke—who has to keep waiting for the delayed NBA Draft (and its associated paycheck) to arrive—it could make a big difference in the short-term we’re all living in.
Right now, the trunks are limited to players who have used up their college eligibility. Selling old jerseys won’t have negative consequences on their collegiate careers like it would for eligible scholarship athletes. That protection is something that is built into the company. This line from the interview stood out to me:
“It’s out of the question right now, and the only reason is to protect the player,” Matthews says. “If it were up to us—and the athlete could still play—we’d do it in a heartbeat. We could care less about the NCAA.”
Certainly there would be a market for in-season gear, and would fans or those waving the amateurism flag really care if a player had an extra couple hundred bucks a month? I doubt it; athletes are already probably flipping stuff anyway as authority figures around them are looking the other way. (I had to bring up Brannen Greene’s infamous front operation in the article). Why not just let it happen in a safer and secure way?
What I like about The Players’ Trunk in particular is that it doesn’t have the sheen of some venture-backed e-com enterprise. The site’s design is straightforward, purposely un-sleek and simple; it looks like a site some athletes and some equipment managers threw together to help players monetize their likenesses, which is exactly what it is. The consignment agreements are two-way pacts with input from both sides about pricing and commissions. You’ll probably notice a few items that are overpriced, likely owing to the preference of the athlete, which is The Players Trunk’s default. I love that.
Right now, the Jayhawks are on campus while many other students remain home; it’s getting harder and harder to make the argument that these athletes are not considered essential employees, and I think even the most staunch amateurism advocates have come around to the fact that there’s something that needs to happen there. Honestly, buying a players’ unwanted gear seems like a purer, simpler, cheaper option than funneling money to them via booster gifts and fancy apartment buildings. In other entertainment industries, increasing the worker’s well-being with some extra dough is seen as an act of service; The Players Trunk doesn’t take it that far with their messaging, but its ideology is even more radical. Here’s to hoping it’s one of many new ideas that help empower the player, no matter their status.