Marquette's Duane Wilson backs NCAA, calls Nigel Hayes' money protest 'corny'

Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes, a preseason All-American, took a definitive stand in protesting the NCAA for not compensating its athletes beyond cost of attendance. Hayes held up a sign on College GameDay last weekend with the words, "broke college athlete," to illustrate the financial struggles student-athletes experience. He also solicited donations to a Venmo account that went to a friend’s bank account; the funds raised will go to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County.

Hayes tweeted, "You make a company millions. They 'pay' you with only a college education (estimated UW $160,000). Fair right?"

Marquette guard Duane Wilson, in a three-post sub-tweet, made it clear that not all athletes feel like they're getting a raw deal.

Good for Nigel Hayes, who won't sit idly by when he sees injustice

He didn't directly condemn Hayes, but was repulsed by the Wisconsin player's definition of "broke" and insinuated ungratefulness.

Wilson tweeted: "Don't say you're broke unless your account says $0.00... I know people that's really out here struggling for a meal yet a dollar."

"It's a shame seeing people do these stunts for social media attention. That's really corny and sad. Our generation so unappreciative."

"I got a son and I'm a student athlete yet I'll never complain or say I'm broke. Where I'm from it's a blessing to even get a free education."

While Wilson's countering views paint a different picture, Hayes' fight for social justice — which started two years ago when he joined a lawsuit against the NCAA — isn't necessarily about being "broke" but rather the unfairness and injustice he sees. In other words, he's fighting for much more than money.

He told USA TODAY Sports: “Starting with this journey of me learning more about my history and other things concerning my people, it was a unique, special feeling to be able to put pictures and images and artifacts to the things I’ve read about, the people I’ve read about, the slavery, the atrocities of it. When you go this museum and you see the shackles, or the cabins they had to stay in, or the tools used to beat them — you go through history. You see Malcolm X and the Black Panther Party, the clothes that they wore, the signs that they made, the newspapers from that time. There was the counter from Greensboro. When you’re able to take something you’re reading in a book and see it in real life, it’s definitely something special. … I was in awe of everything that was going on, trying to take in everything I could.”

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