The University of Arkansas Tuesday used Twitter to communicate with Razorback football players who were complaining on the social media site they had not received their monthly stipend check.
On its Twitter account, the Razorback compliance office, @RazorbackRules, told athletes who were “taking to Twitter” that their checks were scheduled to be issued Thursday, not Tuesday. The compliance office works to assure the players and teams are complying with NCAA rules.
Wednesday is the Fourth of July, a holiday.
Razorback wide receiver Cobi Hamilton and others were complaining on Twitter early Tuesday that they had not received their stipend checks.
“The University of Arkansas does not take care of their student athletes financially and I hope all my 14,000 plus followers see this,” Hamilton tweeted Tuesday. His Twitter handle is @cobiham11.
Shortly after noon, the compliance office in a tweet urged six athletes to read the earlier @RazorbackRules tweet about when the checks would arrive and told those six to go to the compliance office.
In addition to Hamilton, the others were defensive tackle Lavunce Askew (@AskewMind99), tight end Chris Gragg (@Gragg80), linebacker Tyler Gilbert (@mvp504), defensive end Tenarius Wright (@43MVP) and offensive lineman Alvin Bailey Jr. (@Bailey_67).
In one tweet, Gragg wrote, “Wonder what would happen if a professor’s check was days or weeks late everytime…..they would start a riot lol.” The expression lol on Twitter means “laugh out loud.”
The athletic department on Tuesday declined to say how much stipend money the players receive monthly.
At about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, the compliance office tweeted, “To the Razorback SAs waiting on checks, we want to thank you for being patient and we’ll send you a text when yours is in. Have a Happy 4th!” On Twitter, SA stands for “student athlete.”
By Wednesday Hamilton had deleted the tweet from his page in which he asserted the University of Arkansas does not take care of its student athletes financially.
