“The decision doesn’t mean that NCAA athletes will start drawing salaries for playing, nor will it affect the ongoing battle over whether players can profit off of their own names or likenesses. But it will mean that schools can do a lot more to attract and compensate students who play NCAA Division One basketball and football. Though the decision is narrow, it’s a significant step for advocates who have pushed to compensate NCAA student-athletes.” It says a lot about the NCAA’s draconian policies that this inching forward is a significant step. The NCAA Lost A Major Supreme Court Case Over How Student-Athletes Are Compensated.