It was really interesting hear the president of the NCAA, Mark Emmert, and the chair of the appointed commission, Condoleezza Rice, share their thoughts and potential future changes in men's college basketball. Both of them acknowledged that their is a large influx of money coming in through the college basketball program. In fact, they link all of this revenue to the "corruption" that has been taking over the sport. This leads them to saying that some action must be taken, whether it be solutions such as the end of the "one and done" rule, and even saying, "I think there's room for something," in regards to compensating players. While neither committed to saying that college athletes should be paid, it was easy to get the feeling that even they believe to some extent that these athletes should be paid via all of their statistics regarding the revenue that the players bring in. This idea I wholeheartedly agree with because it is not right that these people are putting their bodies and time on the line just to be the main source of revenue, while not receiving any income. As this debate gets deeper and deeper, all of the signs are pointing to a big change coming to the lives of college basketball athletes.
Condoleezza Rice? Did anyone ask Jared Kushner what he thought? I don't know how you can make a kid go to school if he would rather be playing in the NBA and would have a job offer. I'm against paying college players, but give them the freedom to get payed somewhere after high school. I would think that would be their legal right.
At 18, a high school graduate can choose to go serve in the military and not go to college. So if they are old enough for that decision, then why not old enough to decide to play sports for money? You can do that for professional baseball, soccer and tennis, why not football and basketball? Oh.
Like her fellow Bush Administration war criminals, there isn't anything of value that can come from Rice.
1
Ms. Rice as a NCAA spokesperson? Her history of truthful remarks on national TV include: "mushroom cloud/smoking gun" and "we couldn't possibly have predicted hijacking an airliner for use as a bomb."
1
In order of importance, roles at American universities...1. head coaches, 2. top administrators, 3. assistant coaches, 4."student-athletes," 5. all other administrators, 6. regular research faculty, 7. regular students, 8. automated parking lot machines, 9. janitorial and food service staff, 10. adjunct teaching faculty.
If the problem is shoe companies making deals with schools or young men coming out of high school, that can be fixed without chancing he appeal of March Madness.
But making changes based on the examples of less than ten young men a year pausing at college for a year to play ball is a mild way of killing the golden goose.
I think these elites simply decided that hey didn't like the visuals; OR, even more likely, they personally regret Duke and Kentucky playing these guys.
But the one-and-done kids are not making their teams instant tournament winners.
These kids need some form of pocket change to live the life of a college student. As it is, some literally find themselves unable to even get a pizza on a weekend night to share with friends.
Allow players to sign endorsement contracts. If they are good enough, the money will be there. If not, the scholarship is in place. No one believes coaches warrant “shoe money” because they do nothing for it.
Let money go to where it belongs-players. Summer time is available for their promo photos and camp appearances.
1
“We believe this is an opportunity to put the college back in college basketball,”
Yea, right, you betcha Sarah...
Not as bloody long as collegiate basketball remains, "the most popular college sport other than football and the one that provides the vast majority of the N.C.A.A.’s revenue" while it operates more like the NBA's farm club system than a simple collegiate extra-curricular activity.
1
When you begin with a false premise you can reach any conclusion you’d like by irrefutable logic. College athletics at this level starts with a falsehood : that these players are students and only recently become athletes at supernatural levels. They can’t possibly even have time for any level of collegiate study under their athletic demands. They should each be given a grant for the full cost of one year of college for each year of active play, redeemable at any point in their life, even old age, with no academic expectation during their playing years, and otherwise treated as employees of their institution.
1
Practice time for college sports is strongly regulated by the NCAA as it insists the players have plenty of time for study.
Basketcall is the urban game, played by poor city kids who are very often black or of mixed race. To pretend that this sport is the same as all the others ignores the place roundball holds as a social institution.
These few players' one year in college is their chance to be seen on a level playing field by their parents and friends, by their high schools, and the NBA when it is very hard to reliably compare them otherwise.
The one-and-done experience is a yearlong McDonald's All-American series for thse players to find out if they really have a chance mking a living of the sport.
PLUS they have that scholarship ready if they give the professional life a try and then come back to get a degree.
All the player benefits you describe for Mc Donald’s players should not housed inside our highest level educational institutions. Universities should be focused on educating promising students who will make America great again. Basketball talent should be given a chance develope in a post high school league sponsored by McDonald’s in conjunction the NBA.
My opinion is that University Trustees have become addicted to $$$$$$ provided by the sports networks.
want to break the logjam on players getting paid?
at the next final tip-off the players should ignore the ball and sit down, refusing to play until a contract is signed stating each player that partisapates in the march Madness tournament gets paid one million dollars. The panic on the faces of those currently profiting from the current system would be astounding.
no pay no play
They are getting paid. Duke education costs $70,000 a year; times that by four plus the free shoes, sweat, food, training, etc., most major college basketball players are earning about $100,000 a year in some form. Yes, the coaches get way too much, but the players are getting paid, rather handsomely. Add the new rule were they can get per diem per month and it's not a bad gig.
What should happen is the NBA G-League should up their salary from the new $35,000 for 5 months, to $100K, then we'll see the players who don't want to go to college go that route.
That is not cash money. Can't pay rent or buy a car with that.
Brilliant!
Duke could earn $$$$ by licensing their brand name to a G-league team populated with former Duke GRADUATES.
Corruption in sports flows along just beneath the surface while corruption in the White House flies in our face daily. Maybe Ms. Rice can deal with the president when she's finished with basketball.
Why on earth would the highly respected Condoleeza Rice support what's tantamount to professionalizing college basketball? What is she thinking? Payments to athletes for the use of their likeness by video games? Agents allowed access to college basketball players? The abolition of 'one and done' (ie let high school kids go directly to the NBA) which will result in abuse previously in the college level now in high schools? What is Rice thinking?
The USA is the only country for which schools and sports have such a relationship. Time to make colleges about learning and get rid of the sports.
1
Much about college education is ripe for disruption including very prominently NCAA basketball. Any report that does not acknowledge in its first paragraph that the system is exploitative of the valuable labor of the players is not worth reading. NBA teams are investing in development leagues that will, to a certain extent, render this whole discussion moot. To which I say Amen.
Are people going to be involved in the sport from top to bottom? If the is ‘yes’ of course! Then we will never be without corruption in college basketball. The question will always be, ‘how crooked is this sport today’?
One and done is an NBA rule. It gives 18 year olds a year to season among other top players. Get rid of the rule and 18 year olds will do what they choose --go straight to the NBA, go to college, play in the G-league or go to Europe. Most will probably keep going to college and entering the draft after one year. There is no way the colleges can make them stay and there is no way they can keep them out. Because young talented ballplayers have freedom of choice, the NCAA can do nothing. A shame isn't it, that these mostly black players aren't still slaves.
OK, we know what Condoleezza Rice thinks, someone needs to check with Jared Kushner. If the NBA needs to impose a age requirement they need to explain why in court. I don't think they can.
While this is beyond the scope of thus commission, another problem that needs to be addressed is the madness of rating middle school age children as "prospects" and the prokiferatuon of "camps" that are merely fronts for shoe companies and the AAU mercenaries to gain access to children and their parents.
The whole system is rotten.
In a hyper-capitalistic, money is everything and the only thing society like we have created in the US, the ultimate result will be pay for superior Little Leaguers. Americans cannot resist monetizing everything.
I laughed when Condi Rice threatened the NBA if they didn’t end the one-and-done/19 year-old restriction. Her idea that making freshmen ineligible would serve as a big stick against the league.
Absurd. That would be college basketball suicide.
It’s just a game. Remove sports from college. It is ridiculous the way money is wasted on these programs and for what? College is for learning.
Blah, blah, and blah. In the end, it's all about the money. Period.
1
My God! Every time I see Ms. Rice name I am reminded of the failures of our, and the world's, criminal justice system.
She is a war criminal honored by some in our society! And now heads an effort to clean up the NCAA! Incredible!
She is such a "yes" person and fawned, she oughta join Trump's cabinet. She'd fit right in!
What's wrong with this picture?
2
I'm not sure there Condi, but telling an 18 year old baller where he can and cannot "work" sounds sorta, kinda, unconstitutional. Remember that whole Fifth Amendment "no deprivation of liberty without due process" thingy? Just pay the kids already and stop screwing around with this nonsense.
Sorry to enlighten you but Ms Rice doesn’t recognize the Constitution.
As evidenced by her enabling W’s torture, and phony war.
And as long as she doesn’t recognize the constitution, she can remain in denial that she’s a war criminal!
1
The way to limit "one and done" is to tightly control the number of basketball athletic scholarships a college can issue. When an athlete abandons his scholarship at any point before his eligibility expires, THAT scholarship cannot be issued to another player. If Duke or Kentucky (or anyone else) signs players who quit early to go pro, they would soon find themselves running out of scholarships.
Until a player has signed a professional NBA contract and made an NBA season roster, the player should not be ineligible for college basketball. High school graduates should not be excluded from college eligibility just because they make a mistake and try out for a pro team and find out they cannot make it. When faced with going to the D-League or going to college, they should be welcomed by the college and allowed to compete. The rules should protect the young player, not the professional league and the college at the expense of the player losing what they see as the better chance to develop.
2
The NCAA pointed the finger at companies, coaches, the NBA, and preposterously even youth basketball—everywhere except where the blame lies, namely NCAA policies that prohibit kids from making an honest buck.
Most scholarship athletes play for the education and are grateful for it. Why restrict their right to use name and likeness in a summer job, especially one unrelated to sport? Don’t try to sell that as “student support.” It’s NCAA greed at student expense. What, the TV ad revenue isn’t enough?
If the few star athletes considering the professional draft got a fair cut of name and likeness revenue in college, maybe they would stay in college longer. Maybe they wouldn’t. Restraint of trade isn’t the solution. If the NCAA provided player protections similar to the pros (e.g. health/disability insurance), there might be more incentive to stay in college longer. The NCAA isn’t offering much to actually change anything. Very disappointing.
3
The commission punted on the compensation issue, yet it’s hard to feel too sorry for these so called “student athletes” when they don’t take the privilege of a free education seriously. Four years, depending upon if it’s an in-state or out-of-state school, public or private, has a value between from roughly $120K-$240K+ In contrast, there are so many other young adults today burdened for life w/onerous student loans, and are willing to assume that debt in exchange for and the privilege of an education. The contrast is startling. When a student athlete commits to a university they have a contractual obligation. Sure, you can leave early but that doesn’t eliminate the obligation. You breach, you pay rate card for whatever balance is left in that contractual obligation. After all, when you accept a scholarship and don’t fulfill the full term, you’re denying another prospect w/ that opportunity, perhaps one who is more sincerely committed. No prob with this approach if the prospect is legit NBA material, but that’s the risk/reward one faces. Maybe then many student/athletes will take their education more seriously, or perhaps decide not to attend at all (if the one and done rule indeed goes away). With commitment and obligations, comes responsibility.
The schools don’t take the education of their athletes seriously so why do you expect the athletes to do the same? When the schools start requiring athletes to maintain the same GPA as non-athletes, and without the puff courses and special tutoring, then maybe things will change.
DIII athletes are that: students maintaining academic eligibility without any compensation. True, few ever get to the next level of play, but they persist in college at high rates.
Maybe the best answer is to remove all the outside money from athletics: programs must subsist on ticket and bake sales. If an education isn’t taken seriously, don’t provide scholarships. Let the star high school athletes figure out how to make the leap to professional sports without the buffer of college athletics.
I, personally, believe athletics—like music or art—is based on talent. Athletics, music, art, make higher education more attractive to students, giving them a step up in competition, challenges to their skills. Why do we showcase athletics? Because there’s an audience willing to pay to watch these gifted students display their talent.
Coaches shouldn’t be paid outrageous salaries; students shouldn’t get free rides; apparel companies shouldn’t make gobs of money off college sports; tickets shouldn’t hit triple digit prices; academics should come first.
1
Twenty years ago I taught basketball athletes in my classes--they were unprepared for college and did not have enough time to practice, travel, play and then study.
Many were illiterate.
It is not fair to these kids or their parents to wave "A College Education!" in front of them when they are under prepared AND given no time to catch up, attend class, or finish assignments.
I taught at a big b-ball school you would certainly recognize.
A solution to one and done, not dependent on the NBA:
A scholarship is given for four years, with the same limited number that a team is currently allowed. If a player leaves before the four years are up, that player's scholarship still counts toward that total, and goes unused for the remainder of those four years.
2
Or they pay back, with interest, the scholarship funding
This isn't a program to improve the quality of college education. This is a battle between college and professional sports for talent.
4
Why don't they just admit the obvious. Universities are the development league for the NBA. Set standards for university basketball programs to be used as the equivalent of minor league teams, and enter into contracts with the NBA. Players are paid a living wage or better, say $25,000 freshman year, rising each subsequent year, each under contract to the NBA. Those contracts then have clauses determining on what basis a player becomes eligible for the draft. After that, business as usual. There is certainly enough money around to make it work, and it could even increase income for the schools.
1
Few players in both football or basketball make it to the big leagues. The rest hopefully get a good education.
I am tired of hearing about players not being paid. They get room and board, free coaching and free education. This amounts to tens of thousands of dollars of benefits. Average college costs for education $30 and higher per year. Now good professional coaching can cost $50K and higher during the year, (Based on costs for professional sports coaches @$150/hr, (low end).) Now add the costs of equipment, travel, field/court/ice costs!
Not all sports pay for themselves. The added revenue generated by the fans for football and basketball pays for all other sports, scholarships, and coaching at a university.
Yes, the very few who excell early need an outlet to succeed. Minor leagues solve that problem. The NFL and NBA need to step up and establish them. Colleges will be just fine witin this sysyem.
3
What a joke when Condy Rice said "Our focus has been to strengthen the collegiate model — not to move toward one that brings aspects of professionalism into the game,” Rice said." Seriously? She can say that with a straight face when college basketball is a big business, paying cpaches millions and making a billion dollars a year? The collegiate model when it comes to big time college football and basketball is a joke, this is not division III or Division II, this is a sport that is designed to create the next generation of NBA players while making the programs 10's of millions of dollars....not to mention that the athletes for the most part are not student-athletes, they are athletes pretending to be students. It is ironic David Robinson is on the commission, he went to Navy where he couldn't do "one and done", and he in fact was a student, the academies don't offer basket weaving 101 courses, they have to perform as athletes and students or fail.
If they truly were serious about this being college athletics, they would:
1)Require that college players have to stay in school for 4 years, and finish a degree, if a student leaves early and/or doesn't finish a degree, they delay eligibility in the draft by a year or more.
2)They limit the salary for coaches to be inline with what they pay teachers, not professional coaches.
3)TV and other revenue goes to the school as a whole, not just the sports program.
5
And they admit students who are literate, capable of doing college-level work, and "give" them the time to attend class and lab and study.
Never happen, back on the bus or plane.
2
Here is my suggestion. Use it as a basic template going forward.
1. Let any player go into the NBA or the G league at anytime as long as they meet the child labor laws.
2. Let any player go abroad.
3. Let any player/any age play in community college.
4. If you sign to play in Div I then they have to stay a minimum of 2 years. If they have excelled they can leave if they get drafted in the 1st round.
5. After 3 years they can do whatever they want.
Does that seem reasonable? You can do it in other ways but what is wrong with that approach?
What is the logic behind ANY restriction on what a college player can do? We don't stop star students from dropping out and starting, say, Facebook, Apple or Microsoft. Why would we put a restriction on an athlete who's career is even shorter and who, when they're in college, may be helping to make millions of dollars for their university (let's dispense with the notion that student's get "free" education as a reason for treating them like indentured workers).
5
This commission and the NCAA start with a bogus premise: excluding the cost of their education - something for which they work dozens of hours a week via practice, games, travel, conditioning, etc. - the players should not benefit finaicially from the revenue they generate. Meanwhile college basketball has so much money in it now that head coaches are often the top paid public employee (or 2nd most paid, after the head football coach at State U), athletic directors make well over $1m a year, assistant coaches make upwards of $1m at elite unis, etc. A huge percentage of that revenue should go to the players, full stop. Without their labor, there is simply no major college basketball, and today, outside of the cost of education, they receive ZERO compensation - AND are prohibited from holding down outside jobs, etc. It's shocking exploitation.
7
Conoleeza Rice was not credible as National Security Advisor. What makes her credible here? There shoukd be equal, if not more, emphasis on the student portiin of student athlete. The majority of college basketball players do not play in the NBA.
4
It is genuinely hard to overstate just how corrupt the NCAA is. This commission's primary task was to protect the gravy train that is college basketball. As a part of that, they blame student-athletes who decide to pursue a professional career (did anyone try to keep Bill Gates, Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerberg from dropping out of college?), attack sneaker companies, vilify agents, and generally point the finger at everybody but themselves.
College coaches are the highest paid state employees in nearly every state in the nation. Universities earn billions of dollars from college sports, an infinitesimal portion of which goes back to the athletes, most of them minorities. Never mind the stupefying amounts of money being tucked away by colleges, if a student-athlete gets a career-ending concussion playing football or blows out a knee playing basketball for a college team, they don't receive insurance or workmen's comp, and most are kicked off their health insurance when they graduate.
The NCAA doesn't need to be reformed, it needs a wooden stake driven into its greedy, hypocritical heart. If coaches can be paid $8 million a year, students can get paid. If universities can earn tens of million of dollars, students can get insurance if they're injured playing. If college presidents can get paid millions, much of it subsidized by college sports, students can get real health insurance.
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I suppose I do not understand the issue properly, but I take the problem to be men's college sports programs that pour money into coaches and recruiting which in turn creates all sorts of reasons to recruit illegally. Supervise recruiting and the problems would seem to dramatically lessen, then leave all the rest as is.
Why not treat these student like work/study students? Same rules, same pay. Since work/study students are also eligible for scholarships, there would be no special treatment. In other words, make working in the cafeteria the same as playing basketball. And, by the way, let ALL student workers unionize if they choose to do so.
2
The references to "amateurism" in this article advance the ongoing fraud the NCAA represents. Sure, there are significant questions about the moral right of university and college players (not only in basketball) to payment for their services to their institutions. But the weightier question -- certainly in Division 1 schools -- is why we sembrace the fiction that many (let alone most) of these players are students, even "amateur" ones.
Every university administrator knows that few Div I athletes in the sports that claim major funding (and bring big bucks to their schools) can be students at all in any serious academic program,. That's nearly impossible, given the demands of their practice and game schedules and the limited academic preparation many bring to any college curriculum. Whether they obtain degrees or not, this is "fake" undergraduate education for so many of these "students." When will the Div I colleges and universities say no to continuing this sham, and act honestly, paying real salaries to minor-league athletes willing to wear the colors of the institutions that hire them, without any pretense to being students? To be sure, this might prove corrosive for alums' yearning for deep emotional connection to the teams. But it would be honest. Shouldn't we expect universities and colleges to embody commitment to the truth in their athletic policies, just as in their research programs and teaching?
3
Reinstate Freshman basketball requiring everyone to play on the Freshman team. That would likely eliminate the "one and dones" and serve as a catalyst to upgrading the development league while returning college basketball to student athletes.
Notice no penalties proposed related to academic performance, because the main goal of the NCAA is to preserve a system where the (largely white) administrators, coaches, assistant coaches, trainers, referees, TV and radio announcers, media personnel (including the writer of this story and the employees of this newspaper) all get paid, in some cases millions of dollars, off the backs of the (largely African American) players, who for the most part don't even get a degree. These proposals are designed to keep the talent flowing at the cheapest possible price to the colleges. It's the last plantation in America.
8
Agreed. To me there are only two possible solutions to this dilemma:
1)Enforce this as college sports, require that the athletes have to stay the 4 years in school and finish a degree, the way for example kids at service academies do. I have heard this is unfair to the (mostly minority) athletes, but given how hard it is to make it in the NBA or NFL, not having a degree, or at least one worth something, doesn't do the 98% that don't make it in the pros. Likewise, coaches and staff should not be making salaries larger than teachers (which is true at divII and III programs), and the school should receive the revenue from merchandise and tv contracts, not the sports department.
2)Or recognize the reality of div1 athletics, and get rid of the bogus notion these are scholar-athletes. Pay them, and if they aren't interested in a degree, they don't have to attend. The school would still benefit, and kids who wanted to get a degree can, but unlike the present system there is no pretense involved, no basket weaving or fake courses or transcripts.
What we have with the NCAA with the big time sports is a joke, it subjects students to onerous rules designed to keep them 'in line' ie not demanding a piece of the pie, while creating oligarchic-like sports programs at places like Duke, Kentucky, Alabama, Michigan, Penn State et al, where the few (the coaches, the administrators, the sports program) get fat while telling the students they should be grateful to be there with the crumbs.
2
The system desperately needs to change. No more free labor for colleges. Pay the players. Coaches get huge money from sneaker manufacturers? Let the sneaker manufacturers pay players, i.e. allow endorsements. The highest paid employee in most states is the state U football or Basketball coach? Really? That's where my tax dollars are going? No more free ride for the NBA. They save hundreds of millions by using the NCAA as their minor leagues. Force them to set up a viable minor league system like baseball has. If the system was fair, there wouldn't need to be so much cheating. As it is, how dumb would you have to be not to cheat? You're making 5 million a year and your players can't afford to go to McDonalds? How are you not going to give them some $? Rant over.
4
Pay the player? Like an education? Where is this money coming from? Are you cutting other non revenue generating sports or raising ticket prices? Let me know.
Take it out of the coaches salary, or from the sneaker co.s as I implied above.
1
The "one and done" scheme is shameful, since most of those athletes who must spend a year at a university don't want or deserve to be there.
Why should the NBA require the NCAA to be its farm club system? Why would the NCAA agree to playing this rôle? Duh--money.
The alternative is for the NBA to accept athletes even if they do not have a year of university--if the oneanddoners are good enough to play for Duke, they're good enough to play for the Knicks or Nets. If the NBA want a minimum age (say, 19) then it can set up a farm club system, like baseball does.
"Student-athlete" is a made-up term by the NCAA, allowing the NCAA and the colleges to grab every lost dollar while sharing none with the players. Enact lifetime bans for adult employee corruption. Instead, the NCAA wants to put it back on the players by limiting their contract and career options via ending one-and-done. No. The players are free to conduct their careers as they see fit. Plainly, the NCAA will never voluntarily end the indentured, unpaid servitude that is lining its wallets. Disgusting.
6
The NCAA commission was a big waste of time. They are attempting to put the toothpaste back in the tube. Putting the onus on the NBA and the Players Union to discourage players leaving college after a year or two is ridiculous. Rather the NCAA should put sanctions on Duke and Kentucky and the few others who enable players to leave after a year. Coach "K" and Calipari would get it if they were denied going to the Big Dance for having too many leave too early.
Most people blame one and done on the NCAA. They learn that from the Times. It’s obviously an NBA rule. It’s not that long ago players like Kevin Garnet and Kobe Bryant went straight to the NBA. The NBA players association agreed to eliminate that possibility yet nobody blames them. Why? It doesn’t fit the narrative such as this writer that the NCAA is responsible for all evil. Players and their families are corrupt. They are taking money before they step onto a campus. . I can make money selling illegal drugs but I don’t because it’s illegal. If you don’t want to follow NCAA rules don’t play. I have no sympathy for players and families that want to accept a scholarship AND be treated as a pro. Life is about choices.
1
This is a ridiculous statement from the article: “The corruption we observed in college basketball has its roots in youth basketball,” Rice said. The truth is that youth basketball has been corrupted by the corrupt college basketball culture/system.
2
Not surprised Condy Rice would say that, she who is on how many corporate boards and represents the worst of what the conservatives stand for. This flies in the face of reality, the corruption is not from youth basketball, the corruption to quote the Bible conservatives love to throw around, is in the lust for money. When you have 10's of millions of dollars in tv revenue and merchandising at stake, when you have a sports apparel industry that makes money off college sports, and when you have a system that pays college coaches many times more then teachers, there is the corruption, and when the lure of the NFL or the NBA is the real payoff, instead of getting an education, all pretense of this being student-athletes goes right out the window. When the NFL had rules that kids had to stay for 4 years before being drafted, a lot more athletes actually finished degrees, when college basketball players played all 4 years those who didn't make it in the pros often ended up with successful careers, rather than left with very little if their pro dreams ended.
The truth of the NCAA is obvious, while persecuting athletes who got a tuna fish sandwich from a coach or a pair of sneakers, they totally look the other way at the coaches, administrators and the like gorging on the money the school makes off these kids. Then again, I am sure Condy Rice if she were white would say that the slaves in the old south gained the benefit of being made "Christian" and having purposeful work to do.
Can someone out there explain how and why one of the worst Secretaries of State, with blood still on her hands, is chairing this committee?
3
Big time college athletics is a foolish distraction from what should be the real business of colleges. Dropping out of the Big 10 and big time sports didn’t hurt the University of Chicago. If you were a serious student with a choice between scholarships at Chicago and Kentucky which would you choose? “Oh, I’d rather go to Kentucky, they have a great basketball team.” Yeah, right.
Sadly, students choose basketball prowess. Witness what happened at UW-Milwaukee the year the men's basketball team made it to the the "Sweet Sixteen" in 2005 and applications jumped for the following fall. Academics played no role.
If only Rice had dedicated this much attention to CIA warnings that bin Laden was determined to attack the United States.
3
It's about time! We should be tired of watching trice redshirted NBA B-leaguers playing college hoops!
As long as Duke University (from which I graduated, by the way) and their ilk milk the system, nothing's likely to happen. Where are the leaders among university presidents? (Or, is university presidential leadership an oxymoron?) Or, take the case of the prep school, Westtown School in Pennsylvania, from which I also graduated many, many years ago when the focus was on academics. They've bought into big time youth basketball in a big time way. Westtown player Cam Reddish will now be one and done at Duke as was Mo Bamba, who graduated a year earlier, was at Texas. I don't blame the boys, but rather the so-called leadership at colleges and schools that have created and perpetuate the system.
1
The current restrictions imposed on college athletes already constitute a significant restraint on trade by them of their labor. Ending "One and Done" is an additional restraint that further impedes fair trade. Of course, this restraint is made possible if the NCAA and the NBA conspire accordingly.
I don't know why the NCAA needs the permission of the NBA and the union to end one and done. It would be very simple for the NCAA to end it: simply require that any player pass all his courses the first semester of the year and that all of them to take the same introductory courses as every other freshman. I'd bet there wouldn't be many players around to play in the sweet 16.
Let them pay the athletes like any other employees and if the athletes want to go to school too, fine. Even give them scholarships that would require them to maintain the same academic standards as all other students. But let's end respected institutions of higher learning covering themselves in filth for no reason other than money.
If the athletes don't like it, let them go play in Europe or sit around and twiddle their thumbs for the year. But don't lie that they are students.
2
All these suggestions about minor leagues for basketball, no freshman eligibility, and doing away completely with athletic scholarships for college and so on. Forget it.
Yes, there will be a few changes based on the committee's recommendations. They'll probably put a few restrictions on summer basketball, have a better system for tracking shoe company support/payments to athletes or their families. But they're not going to change the basic structure. There is way too much money involved for the colleges, the nba, the shoe companies, and the broadcasters.
But there's cause for celebration! A reputable person and notable committee members produced reasonable findings and recommendations, some of which will be implemented but not those that change the system radically -- i.e., change greatly how organizations make loads of money off of the current system. Any changes allowed won't alter the underlying structure. But an important ritual will have been performed, and we are now half way through it.
I don't know how reputable I consider her. I think of aluminum tubes and mushroom clouds when I see Rice.
Why would NBA players want to get involved in this? This is The NCAA's problem. The one and done is not the problem - the players working for free is.
4
College is for students. Should be as simple as that.
3
Indeed.
Colleges should stick with the education business.
Providing entertainment should not be a part of their business.
3
So, they're going to lie about their employees in order to continue exploiting them.
1
Jennifer Capriati turned pro before her 14th birthday. But she was a white tennis player. The professional tennis association didn't demand she play college tennis as an amateur first.
"“The corruption we observed in college basketball has its roots in youth basketball,” Rice said."
Wow, Rice has it exactly backward. The corruption in youth basketball has its roots in the corruption of college basketball.
Is there corruption in youth tennis? Is there corruption in youth golf?
Why would there be? Those players are free to go pro and use their fame whenever they want.
Is there corruption in college baseball? Where superb high school players don't have to go to college and can just go pro?
It's the sham of "amateurism" in a college sport in which everyone is raking in the bucks but the players.
5
One and done is a complete joke. A high school senior enrolls for a few months at a university until his team gets knocked out of March Madness and then he declares for the NBA draft the next day.
The notion these players are student athletes teaches young people only that adult life is filled with unfathomable hypocrisy. And that our universities, ostensibly centers of reasoned thinking and morality, are not above the fray.
2
Lord-a-Mercy, finally, finally we are hearing something from the NCAA that sounds as if they are also tired of the plantation like recruiting system of College Sports, and it's moneyed patrons in that giant Black Hole of sporting goods and professional sports franchises.
How can so many people see the problem and be too cowardly to put an end to it? As long as a billion-dollar industry can roll in money while it's star performers are expected to abstain there is going to be shenanigans. If I'm a mid-level coach and I come across the next Michael Jordan I know I can join the elite (in status and $$$) if I can get this kid to sign on the dotted line. The only amateurs are the people running the NCAA that believe I'm not going to bend the rules or send an assistant with a bag of cash to get this kid's signature.
1
No mention of academics? Why does that not surprise me?! College basketball players should be paid, but only upon receipt of their diplomas. "One and done" and the wrong priorities magically disappear.
2
About time the schools end 'one and done'. Biggest fraud yet perpetrated on student and players who don't have to attend classes.
2
How about none and done? What's the NBA to do if their farm system is dismantled? The NCAA is a sub-division of the NBA and the NFL. Crooked patronage sums up the efforts of the NCAA.
2
silly willie Pennsylvania Pending Approval
CORRECT VERSION
The contamination of college sports by a wide range of forces demands cooperation unless we want to professionalize college athletics---the AAU scouts, shoe companies, alumni, newspaper bird-dogs, internet based recruiting subscription services, cruise ship prizes for coaches, free clothes for assistant coaches, and the list tumbles on and on----a possible fix deals with the NFL and the NBA and MLB being forced to compensate the collegiate ranks for players becoming part of their business structure. An unsavory solution to them, but the colleges certainly benefit from the kids at the stadium gate and from television revenue, where do the professional leagues pay?
One huge problem: the NBA Players' Union will never agree to ending the one-and-done rule.
NCAA needs to get real and stop demanding that "students" (many of whom never get near a real academic classroom) must provide free services for their huge entertainment empire. Pro basketball players have only a dozen or so years of high income from the sport, and demanding that they give up some of this time to play, instead, for free is no less than robbery. If you want to see real amateur athletes go to a division 3 school.
2
It seems that the NCAA found someone who would give them the endorsement they wanted.
2
Sorry, but you'll never clean up college athletics until you find a surgical procedure that can remove from human brains the area where we form idea that the sucess of a favorite college athetic team is vital to our own self-worth.
We always want to blame special interests for our troubles, but the real villans are the fans. You say college basketball is awash in millions? Where does that money come from? The fans, who buy the tickets, and the shoes, and the clothes, and the beer advertised on TV. The fans don't care if the starting center can't read. They don't care if the coach cheats (they expect it because they are certain the other coaches cheat, too)
The media doesn't want to admit this because they do not want to tick off their readers, but folks, we have met the enemy, and they is us.
5
Long overdue, of course. The one thing mentioned that gives me pause is allowing individual athletes, while in college, to be paid for the schools' use of their name and image. What exactly does that mean? And what does it do to a team if one guy is collecting thousands of dollars while everybody else is toiling away? Maybe could be structured so everybody shares on some kind of a formula basis? It's the collective success of the team and program, not just the star, that puts money in the schools' pockets. Next step, step up the efforts to prosecute and punish the crooked programs.
Remember that the “one and done” is an NBA rule, not one by the ncaa. Not including current nba decision makers in this group’s work will render it useless.
I don’t follow sport enough to understand: what is the absence of “one and done”? Zero and done? Four (degree) and done? Is this a NCAA rule or NBA rule, and if NBA, why is NCAA discussing it?
As a Duke alum and fan, I would applaud the end of one and done. Other considerations aside, it does not seem like a college team --- just a bunch of temps auditioning for the pros --- and makes a mockery of the notion of "student athlete," though some come along (like Grayson Allen). Besides, it's far more engaging and meaningful to get to know players and watch them develop over the years.
1
The ncaa should begin by adopting the football rules on turning pro.
No one wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room - the "one and done" policy is racist and predatory. It overwhelmingly affects young black males, exploiting their dreams to get into the NBA, and relegating the importance of a college education to an insignificant, even meaningless status.
Who can blame these young men - fame, money, and the realization of a dream dangled before them ?
Then, as the vast majority of them fail to achieve stardom or have their careers shortened, they are cast aside and left to fend in society without having learned skills other than in their sports.
We seem to assume that these young black men have no worth other than as sports figures. Otherwise, we would encourage, even demand, that they further their education as well as pursue sports. The two goals are not mutually exclusive.
Abandoning the one and done policy would demonstrate that we value the potential these young men as we do other students, and do not treat them as merely pawns in the mega-business of professional sports.
2
The elephant is on the other side of the room. The one year rule is an NBA rule passed because the NBA found that high school graduates were not ready for the NBA and is promoted by the NBA Players Association that is mostly black males..... The racism is all those black male basketball players making a boat load of money for the NCAA members, and coaches, they don't get to share. Congress could help by allowing college athletes to unionize thus providing some bargaining power.
Yet more foolishness from the NCAA.
The solution is simple. Separate sports from academics.
1. Permit college coaches to offer scholarships only to students who have successfully completed their first year.
2. Establish academic requirements for athletic scholarships that are enforced by a committee composed of students and faculty.
3. Cap the salaries of coaches at an amount equal to the salary of a member of Congress.
4. Require colleges to grant all students free admission to all sports events.
1
Why not just run a junior league where the guys could get paid? I have no understanding of why the farm teams are linked to colleges and universities. I mean I understand that the schools cling to them for the dollars, but in reality wouldn't it be better for everyone if the NBA ran a farm system?
Seems like a no brainier. Get these kids paid.
1
You can blame youth sports, but not without also blaming parents. The idea of a "big score" starts early. Local papers and TV stations cover local HS students signing letters of intent to colleges nobody ever heard of. This is a big lottery for pro slots where not all entrants have the same (dismal) odds of "winning." Talent, connections, good health all play a part in people even getting a shot at the pros. If you are playing sports for anything other than health, enjoyment and camaraderie, you are likely to be very disappointed. As for the pros, I would not go to an NFL or NBA game if you gave me free tickets. It is not about competition, it is about glitz and drama. I can get enough of that watching CSPAN.
3
The key to the "one and done" problem is for the NBA and the NCAA to agree on a mid-college draft. The way this would work is as follows: 1) After at least two years in college, players would be allowed to be claimed by an NBA team through a draft system. 2) When claimed, an amount is placed in a trust fund for the player by the team that claims the player. That amount will vest with the player upon graduation(or possibly 3rd year, assuming they leave for the Pros, at a lessor amount). 3)After the 3rd or 4th year in college, the claimed player can then be signed to a rookie contract by the team that claimed him in the mid-college draft. The NBA team, can if it so chooses, trade or waive the right to sign for any reason. This system would accomplish several things. First, it would give the players in college some financial stability which will give them more piece of mind in finishing their education(less worry about injury etc.). Second, it would give the players time to mature in the college system, reducing the number of players who "bust out" in the Pros. Third, it would help to solve the compensation controversy currently being debated concerning student athletes. The NBA and NFL as well and the NCAA need to work through this proposal in good faith with the best interests of the student in mind. If something like the above is enacted, the students(and all parties) would benefit. Isn't that what we all want?
The solution to this problem is to create a club system. In Europe there is little or no connection between schools and athletics. Therefore, there are no eligibility requirements to worry about. School administrators do not have to worry about their athletes doing anything wrong. Sports and academics are completely separate.Sweden is a perfect example of this. Athletes compete for their club-not their school.
There's responsibility, and then there's control. What control does the NCAA have? Well, less and less and less. In the days when it controlled TV rights the colleges basically had to play by its rules. Anti-trust lawsuits put paid to that. And now more anti-trust litigation. Does anybody think that a version of the NCAA with no control over anything can do any good? It's not a government agency, it can make no laws. It's a bit like the Commissioner of Baseball: put there by the cutthroats to save the cutthroats from each other. If the cutthroats stop believing in it, why does it exist?
2
So I know about this exceptionally bright young person who is very good at AI coding. Several big companies want to hire him right out of high school. Are you telling me that the college or some other "organization" will prevent him from going straight to the company? He/she has to study 1 year at college first?
The NCAA doesn't protect the student athlete's interest. The NCAA is protecting the big business, big coaches, big TV, and big money.
If the NCAA were really looking to protect the students, they would get rid of the 1-year rule, make colleges share revenue with the students, provide for life-long medical care for injuries that occurred during athletics, and stop the overuse injuries caused by too much playing time.
7
I watched this presentation today and could not believe that Rice would lend her brain power to this farce when there are so many far more important things she could help to improve. I have firmly moved to the camp that believe the only way to put "student" back into the term "student-athlete" is to eliminate all athletic scholarships. Let the student athletes apply for need based financial aid the same as all the other students. Coaches salaries should be in the same pay range as professors. All monies from TV, merchandising, etc. should go to the general fund of the schools. The next time I hear from Condoleezza Rice, I hope she has a useful proposal on how to reduce the cost of college to the 99.99% of students who don't play D1 basketball.
8
Great idea. Let’s take away all of scholarships. More than half of football and basketball go to African Americans. I can’t see any problems with doing that. Well... maybe I could.
The NCAA is a microcosm of our nation. Entrenched special interests making billions of dollars while vast income inequality exists between those at the top and the rest. The toughest reform to make in policy is the redistribution of wealth. Pay the players. Create a high school draft. Let market forces determine value. Schools pick the players who turn out for the draft, not vice versa. All profits from sports is shared across all schools, all leagues.
2
Maybe the NCAA should re-instate the eligibility requirements for D-1 basketball. Remember the days in the late 1960's when freshmen were not eligible for varsity basketball and had to play with other schools with freshmen or JUCO. In 1965, I believe, Kareem Abdul Jabbar (formerly Lew Alcincor) and his freshmen teammates at UCLA defeated the varsity who were the returning NCAA champs in a touted scrimmage.
2
I thought the service academies had a model that could be borrowed. Here, their students are all on scholarship, they receive a monthly stipend where one-half goes into a bank account (to be accessed after graduation) and one-half toward monthly expenses. Why not borrow that for D-1 athletes?
1
It really is time to end the farce of the NCAA definitions of student-athletes. The sad reality is that NCAA Division 1 (especially) basketball and football are multi $B businesses in which everybody but the young men who put on the show make a ton of money. The sadder reality is that the coaches, the athletic department hangers-on, the agents, and the administration executives pervert every notion of honesty in order to maintain the system.
The best solution to this farce is to enable the students to be paid and to put a ceiling on the amount of money coaches and recruiters can make. This is particularly true of state institutions.
We should stop blaming the young men who really don't have much going for them other than their athletic prowess. If we were smart about it, we'd insist on some defined level of literacy education, basic business skills, and so on as part and parcel of the job. Because it is a job. It could be a better paying job than I held when I operated a fork lift in order to help pay for college, but it demands just as much time.
The issue is to give these guys a chance in life if they are going to labor in support of the edu-gaming industry. Few college level players will make any money in the pros and most of them will be washed up at the age of 30 with very little to show for it. At least give more of them a chance to get a head start with some skills and some memories.
And stop paying the extortionate compensation to the coaches.
7
Almost all athletic departments receive university and state funds to operate. The athletic department doesn’t make a profit. If the Head football coach and basketball coach worked for free there would still be a deficit. One of the few exceptions is Purdue. It’s athletic department has never accepted state or university funds. It gets no credit for this. Purdue also has frozen tuition for 6 straight years. I would think the outrage would be having the taxpayer provide state schools with field hockey, lacrosse, water polo teams. All the of those sports have almost zero African Americans. Why spend money on them and not lower costs to other students?
1
Truth is the most college athletic programs make little to no profit. Yes, big time schools over pay coaches and have big debt on arenas and stadiums that eats up profits.
But the next level colleges and even smaller D1 don’t make enough $ from tv or tix sales to cover costs even if they don’t over pay coaches.
So to say the athletes should be paid because they make $ for their schools just isn’t true for majority.
DIII is about as close to “real” amateur college athletics as can get. And they work just as hard as the D1’s just no athletic scholarships. But when was the last time you went to a DIII event?
Example, Villanova won National championship in football a few years back and it didn’t even make it above the fold in the sports section of the Inquirer. One section of stadium at PSU football is more than largest crowd at Villanova FB.
The NBA is using DI as a minor league. Shoe companies are using D1 as a minor league to find their next great money making entity. The NCAA allows universities and coaches to make money off the names and likenesses of student-athletes who spend more time on the practice field or court than in the classroom. Even if they graduate, most struggle to survive in the real world. What drives all this? The fans. The fans love the current system, otherwise, they wouldn't keep paying to attend games and fees for league networks. How do we change the nature of college sports in America?
1
Can we stop pretending that most student athletes are actually serious students? Some are, but most aren't. And by giving them scholarships and other privileges, you're taking that away from someone who actually is in academia to LEARN.
10
I agree with ending scholarships but your premise is a gross over statement. Most student athletes are students first. The basketball players this proposal refers to are a limited few who should never attend college.
2
Do you mean "most aren't" in terms of football and basketball or do you mean all student athletes? I think it is pretty clear that most of the athletes playing most of the sports are indeed student athletes.
I'd say MOST are SOME aren't....you need to move beyond MEN's football and basketball but then again I'd still say MOST are student athletes.
What is really sad is that with all this money going into the pockets of the NCAA, that they
1) Don't give free tickets to students of teams in the final 4.
2) Don't pay a dime to any of the coaches
3) Don't require shoe companies to give away free shoes to the student body equal to the amount they pay the coaches.
3
Pay the players. The NCAA, coaches, AD's Colleges/Universities and the media all make obscene money from college sports. Yes the students are athletes but at times academics take a back seat to game nights. It i sad that many college athletes go hungry and their families are unable to come see them play. Dr. Rice and her commission seem to have the interests of students at the core. I hope positive change is the outcome.
8
Don't pay the players. Let them go pro if they are good enough, like most other professional sports in the world.
5
Since everybody else makes money, the players should be paid. This ought to be in the dictionary under "illogical."
Pay them with what? Which women’s sports are you going to eliminate? Athletic departments run deficits.
The rule that a player must be 19 and one year removed from high school before entering the NBA draft was created by the NBA itself. The NCAA has no authority over the NBA and has merely adapted to the rule. I wonder what was the point of Dr. Rice's commission if they don't understand this basic fact.
8
Read the article. The commission said that if the NBA and the players union didn't change the one and done rule, it would reconvene to consider alternatives such as freshman ineligibility.
14
One possible way to reduce the distorting and corrupting effect of TV and endorsement money on major college sports would be to impose a steep special Federal tax on those revenues. The money could be returned to colleges and other educational institutions, but in a more equitable, need-based way than the current system permits.
5
Division One college athletes are college students as well. If they wish to leave school, they can and should be able to do so. Whether that is to play pro basketball or take a job driving a truck is irrelevant. The days of schools holding all the cards is ending, and none too soon.
13
And the NBA is a private corporate association, they can choose to have employment rules that meet their needs as long as they are legal.
You can leave school to play BBall but BBall leagues can choose whether to hire you.
The universities have a lock on advertising revenue and they’re not going to give that up willingly. The courts are going to have to get involved in order for the student athletes to begin receiving well-deserved endorsement contracts.
7
The new trend for talented high school basketball players is to skip college all together and opt for either playing in Europe or one of the developmental leagues, hoping to be drafted by the NBA after a year. Syracuse just lost their prime high school recruit to this new practice. This N.C.A.A. panel has addressed these problems after the horse has already left the barn.
11
I think this trend should continue. Colleges are for learning, not for sports.
5
Excuse me but why does the NBA have a say in the way a college manages its students? College basketball is used as a marketing vehicle for the NBA where the poor players are used and thrown away. Wasn't college supposed to be to lift up our youth? State funded schools in particular should not be in this game. College is for education. Isn't that what tax payers are contributing?
22
An NCAA men's BBall program can bring a school over $40 million - that pays for a lot of scholarships for the girl's lacrosse team.
As an observer of US college sports and having a familiarity with professional sport leagues in other countries, I propose the following changes:
1. College scholarship athletes be provided 4 year scholarships not the current annual scholarships.
2. If an athlete decides to go pro prior to the completion of the 4 year commitment then whatever pro team that signs them compensates the college for the cost of the 4 year scholarship. An amount set by an independent group.
3. If an athlete is injured and unable to contribute physically for a year or indefinitely they still retain the ability to get an education for the 4 years and those that are injured get that period added to their eligibility to play.
4. Scholarship athletes should have the ability to earn money doing work outside of their sports primarily out of season like all other college scholarship recipients.
Those are just a few simple things I think would level the playing field a bit more.
12
or just pay them and stop the charade of student athletes, If they want to go to school as well and can get in on their own academic merits, so be it
You make way too much sense... would you consider replacing Mark Emmert who always seems to be asleep at the wheel!!!
The NBA needs to build a professional minor league. The NBA is no different than MLB or the NHL. The NBA should have a minor league system to develop players, and the players should be properly compensated and members of the players union. The collegiate system is state subsidized joke and needs to be ended. Now. The same goes for the NFL.
35
The NBA does have a development league, the G league. The starting salary has just been increased to $35,000/yr for their players. This is an alternative for high school athletes who don't want to go to college and turn pro.
4
They already have one - G-League - and HS players can attend it for a year in place of going to college
A good solution: Build and support minor league systems like the NHL and MLB. Allow high schoolers to "go pro". If they don't make the NBA, they can spend formative years learning in the minor leagues at their own rate. NCAA basketball would no longer have to partake in the senseless one-and-done and can get back to the beauty of four-year players and programs. The players are in the wrong place anyway: They have, understandably, no interest in academics and are deprived of opportunities to train year-round with higher caliber players and systems.
High school athletes can turn pro for baseball, hockey, soccer, golf, and tennis, among others.
Why not create a legitimate system for basketball?
44
they already have a development system that they don't pay for----it is called the NCAA.
1
The abolition of one and done is ABSURD -- it doesn't make logical sense! If professional agents are corrupting young NCAA basketball players because of the 'one-and-done' rule, the abolition 'one-and-done' only means NOW the same agents are going to corrupt 15, 16, 17-year old high school kids talented in basketball, because now they can go to the NBA. This is completely absurd: if the presence of agents in NCAA is a bad thing, isn't all a bad thing in high schools, too? What is Rice thinking?
1
First step should be a measure of financial security for the amateur athletes in the form of performance disability insurance. It could be funded by the professional leagues, apparel industry, agents, etc .. and provided by the collegiate (NCAA) program.
7
I understand that top college athletes - like a great QB - has insurance like through Lloyds of London - paid for through booster money so incase they are injured they have a "safety net"
Yes, that is the case. Colleges and universities may in some cases buy insurance for top athletes. Clemson took out such a policy for Deshaun Watson, and has one for Seth Beer (their outstanding first baseman) this year.
I applaud the NCAA for their report. I have loved basketball for 65 years. We have come a long way from the playground b-ball of my youth to corruption beginning in grade schools. I even remember when college freshman were not allowed to play varsity ball because they were making an adjustment to college academic challenges. All athletic scholarships should be ended. NBA Development leagues (similar to baseball's minor leagues) should be established for those interested in pro ball. Each college team would then be composed of students who enjoy the game while preparing for life. After one or two seasons, 95% of the players who chose the development leagues will realise they cannot make the NBA and hopefully enter college to begin a serious program preparing them for a career and life in the real world.
49
The real question is when will college presidents and boards reclaim their power from the athletic programs that now hold sway over them? If you don't think that many college head basketball and football coaches are the most powerful figure on their college campus, then you simply aren't paying attention.
14
As a fan of youth basketball who has attended many AAU basketball tournaments around the country, it has become obvious to me that some elite AAU players and/or coaches are receiving compensation in one form or another. As I sit in the stands I can watch and listen as "player consultants" and "family advisers" actively recruit and work with potential superstar kids, many of whom are 12 - 14 years old. Corruption in amateur basketball begins long before college.
18
I think the idea of the student athlete is questionable nowadays especially in the marquee sports like basketball and football. With all the money involved in college sports the "student" part of equation is just a ruse. Let's face it, the commission was established to protect the NCAA brand. The commission's recommendation to compensate the athletes in exchange for entertaining us is fair.
But I wonder if it short changes the real student athlete, who was willing to trade their athletic talents for a real education. Will there be room for them in this new arrangement?
17
"Student-athletes" are missing on some college campuses, but there are better schools. For example, Purdue's basketball team foundered after getting to the Sweet 16, but all four senior starters will graduate in four years. (NCAA measures six-year graduation rates, a good idea for all students.) Their avowed policy of "25-85" has contradictory goals of being ranked in the top 25 in all sports played, while maintaining an 85% six-year graduation rate. The former is almost impossible in the presence of the latter. The latter is easier, and used to be 75%.
Please don't generalize athletic department shenanigans to all schools.
7
It’s so easy to say “all of the money”” yet universities subsidize their athletic programs and donors keep programs going. Why is that done if schools are awash in “profits”? The answer is expenses exceed revenues in almost every program. Purdue is one of the few exceptions that uses no university or state funds. It’s athletic department is completely self-sufficient. That may sound great, but with it comes the inescapable fact that Purdue doesn’t provide the following varsity sports. No women’s rowing, gymnastics, water polo, field hockey, lacrosse, hockey etc. No men’s soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, gymnastics, water polo, hockey, etc.
Only a fool believes athletic departments don’t need contributions from boosters. Look up how many varsity sports Ohio State supports and put to paper the cost of scholarships, meals, coaches, travel, medical and training staff, training facilities, stadiums, recruiting, compliance staff, academic support staff, etc. it adds up in a hurry. Unfortunately the Times does a poor job of reporting the reality of the cost of all of these sports. You could zero out the Head football and basketball coaches salaries and still need contributions from boosters and still not break even. I would think the scandal of the day is that taxpayer and university funds are used annually in the tens of millions to support all of these other sports that nobody watches. The money should more properly go to reduce tuition.
1
The latest information that I can find is from
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/college/2013/05/07/ncaa-finances-s...
There we find that only seven university athletic departments took no subsidies at all from their institutions: LSU, Nebraska, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Purdue and Texas. Until recently, Purdue athletics put $1M annually into the university's general fund.
Is there more up-to-date data measuring the same thing?
In support of paying a “salary” to college athletes would be the opportunity for them to learn money management skills. The salary would come with the requirements that the athletes take NCAA sanctioned financial management and investment classes with mentoring by qualified financial planners. The account would be held jointly by athletes and their institutions. One possible advantage is that the athletes would actually experience concrete benefits of achieving set goals for return on investments made with this mentoring. The objective of this plan would be to prepare all of them for “real life” small and windfall money management after leaving the institution.
4
LeBron, Kobe, and Kevin Garnettt did not have to adhere to the One and Done rule. These athletes flourished in the NBA without going to college. Why should a basketball player who has the talent to be a professional be forced to go to college? I'm happy for this recommendation by the Commission.
25
Agree. Most of these players don't belong in higher education. They're not there to learn and it's insulting to serious students who actually have to pay for their educations.
2
They aren't forced to go to college. The NBA just has a rule against signing players that are younger than 19.
Why don’t you ask the NBA players Union? They agreed to the one year rule after high school. The responsibility falls on them. The colleges have no control over the NBA
Collegiate athletics has been ruined by the steady, pervasive influence of unrestrained capitalism. This has led logically to corruption in the form of bribery, questionable payments and greed.
The parallel to income inequality in our society is stark and frightening. If Ms. Rice and her committee can find and implement a way to clean up college athletics, perhaps it can be applied to restrain the unseemly and morally reprehensible concentration of wealth in the economic world at large.
4
"...Fundamental integrity of college sports..."
Fundamental integrity of students and their families...
Fundamental integrity of institutions of higher learning...
Thank you, Ms. Rice, for shining a light on reprehensible practices by big money sporting goods corporations, big money media influencing and compromising the high ethical standards we expect in coaches, agents and student athletes at every stage of the game.
Play fair, NCAA, play clean!
2
The contamination of college sports by a wide range of forces demands cooperation unless we want to professionalize college athletics---the AAU scouts, shoe companies, alumni, newspaper bird-dogs, internet based recruiting subscription services, cruise ship prizes for coaches, free clothes for assistant coaches, and the list tumbles on and on----a possible fix deals with the NFL and the NBA and MLB being forced to compensate the collegiate ranks for players becoming part of their business structure. An unsavory solution to them, but the colleges certainly benefir from the k8ids at the stadium gate and from television revenue, where do the professional leagues pay?
Schools don’t want the one and done players. During the era of going straight to the NBA college basketball tv revenues exploded.
1
they have little choice or ability to predict who is going to do it---the circumstances and the money drive the players to seek more and bigger as quickly as possible.