Paying College Athletes

[gunnar hendershow]

The past year has been about as good for the NCAA as 1993 was for the Dallas Mavericks. More scandals have broke, more legacies have been tarnished, and more questions have been raised about the current state of college sports. Football and basketball, obviously, headline the list but we've seen Boise State sanction itself because of violations in women's tennis. In the past few days it has finally come up that it might not be a bad idea to pay college athletes beyond the full scholarship they get to go to college. I was hoping this thread could be a time to discuss whether you think this is a good idea, a bad idea, or if there's a certain middle-ground that can be achieved to help save college sports from another year like this one.

I think that it's a great thing college athletes get the chance to go to school for free and get an education, but this doesn't apply to all the FBS or FCS football players, it doesn't apply to all the DI basketball players, and it certainly doesn't apply in less-popular sports and lower-level universities. Plus, a lot of these athletes have less-than-enviable backgrounds and while they are getting a college scholarship for free their family is still living below the poverty line. If you were in that situation, you'd take whatever money you could both for yourself and your family. Obviously you could say, "Well the student-athlete should get a job". With the rigors of both playing a major college sport and trying to balance academic coursework, they have no time for a job. Plus, god forbid they get paid .10 cents more than the average employee there because the whole program will get a sanction for it.

As student-athletes, a lot of players on football and basketball teams are expected to bring in a lot (millions in some cases) of money to both the institution and its athletic programs. They are glorified fundraisers in many cases, who see no return on the work they put in. Their coaches can be among the highest-paid state employees at public universities. Until his retirement 2 weeks ago, Gary Williams was the highest-paid state employee in all of Maryland. But the players aren't allowed to so much as sniff any of this money. Meanwhile, students who work at the school bookstore or the school dining services are also bringing in money to the institution but getting a return on their work with a paycheck to pay their living costs. College is not cheap, even with a full scholarship you are putting in a lot of work with little-or-no monetary reward. You still need to buy things like books, food, and travel expenses to go home, which can be very expensive if you're from Georgia but playing basketball at Oregon State.

Furthermore, a lot of student-athletes don't care about their academic studies in the slightest. They look at college only as a stepping-stone until they can take the first bus out and get the multi-million dollar salary they can get in the NFL or NBA. "One-and-dones" are destroying the college basketball landscape in my opinion. College football players have to be out of high school three years before going to the NFL, so it's a little better, but it also leads to a lot more scandals. Three years when you are 19 or 20 is a long time, especially if you're a talent like Michael Vick who was hailed as a future NFL Hall of Famer from the day he stepped foot on Virginia Tech's campus. It doesn't help your attitude when your coach drives up to practice in a Lamborghini, and you have to catch a bus to get to the same spot.

So in conclusion I think efforts to pay college athletes a standard living wage is a good idea. Obviously don't give them a multi-million dollar paycheck, that would hurt college sports more than help as small athletic departments are forced to risk financial ruin to get a prized recruit. But these schools have more than enough money coming in from their sold-out football games to pay for everyone on the football team to live comfortably. Treat it like you treat the guy in the bookstore. Give them an hourly paycheck for every practice they attend, every game they play, and any other time they are doing something directly related to the sports team. Will this help fix the major problems in college recruiting? No. Will it help solve the academic scandals? No. Will it help prevent players from taking money at the nearest opportunity? Yes. It also is the right thing to do in a climate where players risk serious injury so someone else can make a fortune.

[bill_da_bill]

I'd be ok with an hourly wage so long as the players weren't getting scholarships. But these kids are getting free tuition and housing on campus to play sports. That's a pretty hefty amount of money if they stay for four years. Especially considering a lot of them woudn't be getting aid for their grades.

I am ok with giving players a per diem for road games when they have to eat out and things like that. But a weekly pay check seems unneccessary to me.

[Meacon Keaton]

If you're going to pay student athletes, take away their scholarships. It's bad enough we have kids getting free college degrees who can barely read, while Timmy Middle Class can't afford to go despite being a good student. No way in hell should a kid who is only getting a degree, a free one at that, get paid extra, because of his athleticism. I'd be fine with the NCAA being more lenient on them getting part-time jobs, as long as they monitored their income to make sure they weren't bringing in $50,000 for bussing tables. Deciding to pay student-athletes is the lazy way out, if you ask me. The NCAA needs to be more strict on their punishments. Kids do this type of stuff because they know they'll get a slap on the wrist or, at worse, a few game suspension. Give them a suspension first go and kick their asses out of school after that. It won't happen, though, because money talks, and the NCAA love it too much to care about integrity.

[Quom]

The NBA should draft out of high school.

This would remove most complaints. Even though colleges make money off their sports teams, many people still look at it as colleges giving away a place to an illiterate git with no academic desire whilst a good student misses out.

The college is still making money off their team with no financial outlay themselves (beyond the cost of paying for the travel to games).

The player has cash and can support for their family (which is the heart string defence of most players who usually cheat the rules).

The NBA also has more flexibility on who is entering the league i.e. they could state all players must complete their degree/first two years of or whatever.

Only downside is it would make the draft less worthwhile. It would be harder to judge who is a future star based solely on their high school performance (although in turn would have given a player like Brendan Haywood further time to develop).

The other way is if the NBA itself offered a blanket pay. Each team could be taxed X amount, this money then provides for athletes whilst at school. Hell it could be based on a welfare system where those with the worst backgrounds have their family moved up to the middle class.

But I can absolutely see why someone who has grown up in poverty would jump at something as small (comparatively to what they will earn once out of college) as $50,000. That may be enough for a car, private schooling for their siblings etc.

[DMN in the House]

Paying players is a horrible idea, and wouldn't do anything to stop the rampant corruption and cheating in college sports anyway. I disagree on letting HSers go to the NBA as well, but that's a separate issue.

[HailtotheYo]

Having been down the road of the NCAA athlete, I can say there's much more too it than most people get.

Yes they get scholarships however there are rules upon retarded rules as well. For instance, they can't hold a full time job if they're on scholarship.

There are ins and outs of the thing that go much deeper than most people realize. I for one, would be in favor of a "stipend" given to them under a very strict guideline.

[Quom]

Paying players is a horrible idea, and wouldn't do anything to stop the rampant corruption and cheating in college sports anyway. I disagree on letting HSers go to the NBA as well, but that's a separate issue.

The big issue for me is money. My guess is that some middle class or well to do athletes are susceptible to corruption. My guess would be that the overwhelming majority who take money when they shouldn't are kids from really crappy socio-economic areas. You are moving them into a world totally unlike their own. Filled with people besides some other athletes who have no idea the sort of disadvantage these kids have faced. It must be like being on another planet or totally foreign culture. Beyond that they know that they are nearly guaranteed a paying contract.

It's sort of like putting a million dollars in the bank account of a fourteen year and saying "don't touch this until you are 16" if someone offered them money based on the fact they would soon have a million dollars not many would pass it up, especially since a scandal doesn't exclude them from turning pro.

I really don't know the answers. But working with socio-economically challenged families and kids for a living I'm amazed there isn't a 100% corruption rate. Fuck knows if I shared their circumstances I would take whatever I could.

[DMN in the House]

I don't blame the corruption on the kids, nor their families. The corruption starts with the people with money. It's on them.

[HailtotheYo]

Paying players is a horrible idea, and wouldn't do anything to stop the rampant corruption and cheating in college sports anyway. I disagree on letting HSers go to the NBA as well, but that's a separate issue.

The big issue for me is money. My guess is that some middle class or well to do athletes are susceptible to corruption. My guess would be that the overwhelming majority who take money when they shouldn't are kids from really crappy socio-economic areas. You are moving them into a world totally unlike their own. Filled with people besides some other athletes who have no idea the sort of disadvantage these kids have faced. It must be like being on another planet or totally foreign culture. Beyond that they know that they are nearly guaranteed a paying contract.

It's sort of like putting a million dollars in the bank account of a fourteen year and saying "don't touch this until you are 16" if someone offered them money based on the fact they would soon have a million dollars not many would pass it up, especially since a scandal doesn't exclude them from turning pro.

I really don't know the answers. But working with socio-economically challenged families and kids for a living I'm amazed there isn't a 100% corruption rate. Fuck knows if I shared their circumstances I would take whatever I could.

Oddly enough it really isn't that way in the world of college sports. More often than not it is those "less privileged" and lower socio-economic kids that have a much more level head and understanding of life in general. It's the silver spoon motherfuckers that are greedy and have a sense of entitlement.

While I agree with DMN that it starts with the trust fund babies at the top slapping down money/etc on these kids .... there's still equal blame on the kid that takes the envelope/car/whatever. They know it is wrong/against the rules. There's no excuse for that.

[Vendetta]

I say give them 200 a month...

[Toe]

I'm not sure if paying them is a solution, but I do think student athletes should be able to make money for themselves with personal appearances and selling signed merchandise.

[Vendetta]

And if they want to sell their championship rings or jerseys..whats the big fucking deal? That is there personal property...

[HailtotheYo]

You can't use an NCAA athlete's image, likeness, or person for profit/financial gain. It violates NCAA rules.

If you're a player and you're selling a piece of memorabilia/equipment ... er yeah. That's a direct violation.

What's so hard about wating a couple of years until you're out of school ?