Competing Narratives: Black Male College Athletes’ Master Cultural Narratives Versus the National Collegiate Athletic Association

The focus of this study was investment in the Master Cultural Narrative (MCN) of being authentically one’s self for Black male college athletes in the post name, image, and likeness policy era of Division I athletics. As part of a multimethod qualitative approach, seven profit-generating sport self-identified Black, male college athletes completed eight life story semistructured interviews via Zoom. The MCN of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was assessed through an archival analysis of events through 10 publicly available interviews via NCAA representatives to examine: What are the NCAA and Black male college athletes’ MCNs in the post name, image, and likeness policy era? Black male college athletes determine their MCNs via perception of self, perceived self, and authenticity, while NCAA’s MCN is determined via hybrid institutional logic.