Interesting article

[Dan_ref]

http://money.cnn.com/2002/11/15/comm...ncaa/index.htm

(Thanks Butch)

[mick]

Thanks, Dan.

[bard]

College athletes seem to forget that they are getting their tuition, room, and board paid for. That's a pretty significant chunk of change.

[Danvrapp]

Something tells me if this happened, the same 8 - 10 schools would be good every year, as they'd be the only schools able to "afford" top-notch quality players.

Oh wait, the same 8 - 10 schools are already good every year.....

[crew]

pay'em, the schools are making tons of money off of them so why not? they arent allowed to have a regular job, they only get limited amounts of money(per diem) and the schools are exploiting the talents of young athletic men and women. throw them a bone, and maybe keep them from going pro and getting a higher graduation rate at the same time. make'm sign a 4 yr contract.

by not paying them temptation sinks in to to be "on the take" from boosters and illegal recruiting. nc2a should put regulations and guidelines on it(cap) and make college basketball more exciting.

just my opinion.

[Mark Dexter]

Originally posted by bard
College athletes seem to forget that they are getting their tuition, room, and board paid for. That's a pretty significant chunk of change.

Hear, hear!

[theboys]

Well, I guess I'm naive, but, if we start paying college players, doesn't that just make them another group of pros?

My point is, I think the average student feels a connection to athletes that would be lost if a school started paying the athletes to play. There's something about knowing an athlete is playing for the love of the game, and for your school, and not a paycheck.

Paying college athletes to play would destroy college sports. In fact, the corporate obsession with making money off sports is already leading us in that direction. Can you say Lebron James?

[ChuckElias]

Originally posted by theboys
Well, I guess I'm naive, but, if we start paying college players, doesn't that just make them another group of pros?

I couldn't agree with you more, Coach. If you want to get paid to train for the NBA, then sign up for the NBDL. If you want to play for the pride and tradition of your school while you train for the NBA, then go to school. College players should not be paid, in my opinion.

[Camron Rust]

Originally posted by crew
pay'em, the schools are making tons of money off of them so why not? they arent allowed to have a regular job, they only get limited amounts of money(per diem) and the schools are exploiting the talents of young athletic men and women. throw them a bone, and maybe keep them from going pro and getting a higher graduation rate at the same time. make'm sign a 4 yr contract.

by not paying them temptation sinks in to to be "on the take" from boosters and illegal recruiting. nc2a should put regulations and guidelines on it(cap) and make college basketball more exciting.

just my opinion.

If they are paid, will it really stop the boostes and illegal recruiting? The pay will not be "high" and even if it is pretty good, it would probably be a constant amount. The dollars will still be offered by boosters to get/keep the better players.

[Dan_ref]

My take on "just paying them":

Who determines how much they get paid? Is it an open
market? Are players contracted for 4 years? Can we trade
players? How about the women's lacrosse team? The mens
fencing team? How much do they get paid? When we pay these
people do we subtract the value of the scholarship? This
alone can approach $40K per yr at some schools for a full
ride. Bottom line: paying them might seem the easy way out
but it opens a huge can of worms. Student athletes accept
the deal, there are lots of strings attached but they are
not forced to take the scholarship & play for the school.
And the vast majority of student athletes are actually a
financial drain on the school they play for. Just a small
few play on the big money teams.