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Pay The Players

How much per player spread across several sports? It seems like the money would eventually run out if you have to pay the players and fund each program. Football let alone has 85 athletes.
 
And do you pay the players monthly or weekly? It just, too me, takes the amateur status away The average college student has to pay for their school, if they don’t receive a academic scholarship, athletes if rewarded are provided a 50k+ scholarship and a free ride, now they want paid? Do they want carried to class too?
 
I love when coaches start saying things like this when the coaches are the ones getting almost all of the excess funds that go through the universities. I say excess because although the universities take in millions from tickets and TV, they keep very little if any for themselves. Most athletic departments run in the red. That's because the turn around and spend all that money back into more and more facilities for the players, food and travel for the players, gear for the players, trainers and nutritionists for the players, tutors etc. The rest goes to coaching staff and support staff. But the support staffers make $30K a year.

When big time athletics boomed into a big time money making venture the ones that made out were the coaches and athletic directors and that's where all the money is going. Coaches went from $200K per year guys doing pretty well to mega millionaires in a short amount of time. So if you want to start paying players it's easy to see where the money can come from, real easy.
 
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Soupbean is correct - the vast majority of D-1 athletic depts. run a deficit. If you pay FB players, you'd have to pay women's volleyball, gymnastics, etc., i.e. all sports that run up deficits for the football program to try to overcome. Now, if all 'student-athletes' could be paid as work/study students from the general budget rather than the athletic budget, I think that's reasonable. After all, when the athletes are performing, they are, in essence, performing PR work for the university (more applications, higher donations, etc. tend to follow successful athletic seasons).
 
And do you pay, for instance, Lynn Bowden the same money as you would a walk-on?
 
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Paying players just isn't feasible. Few universities have athletics programs that are profitable (or even self sustainable). The vast majority of athletics departments are subsidized by the university.

So where does the money come from? If football players are paid, will all other student athletes be paid the same amount? If not, you can bet you'll see lawsuits.

College athletes are amateurs. It might not seem like it at Alabama or Kentucky, but how about EKU or Morehead? Most college athletes will never make a dime playing professional sports. Most universities athletics programs are swimming in red ink. So again, where does the money come from?

GBB!!!
 
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I just say you let players make money off there likeness, if a agent wants to pay a kid pay him, if a shoe company wants to pay a kid to a school pay him...Recruiting is already unbalance anyway with the same schools getting top recruits and if the player is a bust then too bad for the agent or shoe company
 
How much per player spread across several sports? It seems like the money would eventually run out if you have to pay the players and fund each program. Football let alone has 85 athletes.


The cost for giving the football players as much as all but one or two schools is paltry, compared to the "business" football is.

Pretty simple math, they are already paying the players, just some are paying a lot more than others (us), last I saw UK had improved to close to $3400 per year per scholarship, to get up with the competition it would cost about $2,500 to barely pass most of them and almost catch #1, City College Cincy. As I noted in another post 85 times 2.5K is only $212,500, a pittance for football when you consider coaches salaries AND stupid buyouts. However the figure floating around for UK to catch up is about $2,000,000, but that is for ALL (mandated) athletic scholarships, and I think there are between 400 and 500 total, lots of them partial in the "minor" sports.

But 2.5 x400 is only $1,000,000 so looks like everyone in the athletic department has to get a cut, lol. No, I think if you raise it for athletes it raises the COA for everyone and affects loans to regular students etc, not sure how that works and how it came out to be $2,000,000, still a pittance to improve ALL of UK's sports, the main MONEY one being football, where it should pay off big. Not an expense as much as it would be an investment, and one that would pay off, IMO, borrowing the money for CW improvements prompted over $40,000,000 in DONATIONS for the "football center". It is probably UK's most profitable "business", and it is big business now, just ask Bama.

All I know is we need to be competitive with Bama more than they do with Auburn (not Bama so much as MOST of the schools we play every year, most of the SEC schools plus Transfer U way ahead of us now), two of the schools from one of the poorest states, Mississippi, among the leaders.

The football coaching staff is making over $8,000,000 a year now, PLUS some raises and adding a tenth coach, IF they gave up about THREE percent of their crazy salaries (what does Stoops need with a couple million more after he gets $2,000,000 for the BARE NECESSITIES?, lol), looks to me like it would be a great investment in their longevity AND advancing in their profession.

Of course some coaches, like hurtt, just give it out in $100 handshakes, and while it is illegal some schools have it in their budget.
 
I see both sides of this. Many if not most athletes would be unable to attend college without the scholarships, which is a life changing opportunity even if they don't make it to the next level. One of their complaints is they don't have money to go out. Well neither did i, it took everything I could scrape up to pay tuition, books, dorm and meal ticket. Lots of weekends when meal ticket was no good bolona was all I had, no bread either.

But then you see coaches making 4-10 mil a year, and getting 15 mil if fired. Coordinator making over a mil, 2 mil in one case, and multiple assistants making over 800k a year. There is a lot of money floating around in 2 college sports that would survive paying players a stipend. But with Title 9, and all the none revenue sports that are funded by the 2 revenue producing sports makes it tough. I think it would result in some unwanted side effects, which would be reduced scholarships for football and maybe basketball, which would allow schools to eliminate some programs altogether or at least the number of scholarships those programs can give.
 
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Are Pell grants and coa the same thing? If not with all the free clothes and shoes these kids get they should have plenty of money. Looks like many of them spend too much of it in tatoo parlors.
 
The extra money paid out wouldn't make much difference (if any) to SEC teams, UK probably gets the money from OTHER SEC TEAMS bowls to go to #1 in the COA. Then they still have the FORTY MILLION SEC distribution to spend. Maybe some difference to some P5 teams, but not many with revenue sharing, which I think about all have now. The COA for athletic scholarships should make a huge difference in athletes style of living (IF in a major sport, and not a partial ride) compared to nothing before, with what they already get, almost like a regular job at most of our competitors. At Cincy and Transfer U plus most of the SEC over a hundred dollars a week MORE than they had before.

But UKErik is right, MOST schools lose money on athletics, and it would hurt them. Probably be a lot of good EKU players walking on at UK trying (and failing, in most cases) to get the pot of gold, just like a lot of recruits invest everything in trying to make the NFL------and don't make it. BUT, it doesn't matter now, they have already opened the can of worms, which is what I called it as soon as the NCAA let the schools set the COA. There will probably be some alumni donating to the COA and not academics now, if they are allowed to. And I am talking about SOME in all these cases not a large number.

I have always been able to go a long time without food, have fasted for a blood test several times from 10 pm on, and gotten busy the next day and realized about 10 PM I still hadn't eaten any food, true story. I lost 18# one semester at UK, money scarce, mostly lived on a hamburger and milk shake once a day, and that was with going home some weekends and eating all I wanted. I was skinny starting the semester, REAL skinny at the end of it, I didn't even realize it at the time, people probably thought I was a druggie.

But why bother giving them any COA, everyone on here thinks $10,000 EXTRA over four years doesn't help recruiting at all, save the money for the coaches-------and be sure mitch doesn't starve either. I don't want him nearly as fat as jurich got though, both wallet and stomach.
 
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One of their complaints is they don't have money to go out. Well neither did i...
Exactly. If they think they are being treated "unfairly", then they are free to walk away anytime and go to work. Sitting through all day meetings isnt as much fun, esp without 50k+ fans cheering you on. Cleaning tables isnt as much "fun" either. (Edit: Ive done and do both.) Let them quit and see how real life works.
 
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The cost for giving the football players as much as all but one or two schools is paltry, compared to the "business" football is.

Pretty simple math, they are already paying the players, just some are paying a lot more than others (us), last I saw UK had improved to close to $3400 per year per scholarship, to get up with the competition it would cost about $2,500 to barely pass most of them and almost catch #1, City College Cincy. As I noted in another post 85 times 2.5K is only $212,500, a pittance for football when you consider coaches salaries AND stupid buyouts. However the figure floating around for UK to catch up is about $2,000,000, but that is for ALL (mandated) athletic scholarships, and I think there are between 400 and 500 total, lots of them partial in the "minor" sports.

But 2.5 x400 is only $1,000,000 so looks like everyone in the athletic department has to get a cut, lol. No, I think if you raise it for athletes it raises the COA for everyone and affects loans to regular students etc, not sure how that works and how it came out to be $2,000,000, still a pittance to improve ALL of UK's sports, the main MONEY one being football, where it should pay off big. Not an expense as much as it would be an investment, and one that would pay off, IMO, borrowing the money for CW improvements prompted over $40,000,000 in DONATIONS for the "football center". It is probably UK's most profitable "business", and it is big business now, just ask Bama.

All I know is we need to be competitive with Bama more than they do with Auburn (not Bama so much as MOST of the schools we play every year, most of the SEC schools plus Transfer U way ahead of us now), two of the schools from one of the poorest states, Mississippi, among the leaders.

The football coaching staff is making over $8,000,000 a year now, PLUS some raises and adding a tenth coach, IF they gave up about THREE percent of their crazy salaries (what does Stoops need with a couple million more after he gets $2,000,000 for the BARE NECESSITIES?, lol), looks to me like it would be a great investment in their longevity AND advancing in their profession.

Of course some coaches, like hurtt, just give it out in $100 handshakes, and while it is illegal some schools have it in their budget.
UK has around 230 Athletic scholarships.
 
Soupbean is correct - the vast majority of D-1 athletic depts. run a deficit. If you pay FB players, you'd have to pay women's volleyball, gymnastics, etc., i.e. all sports that run up deficits for the football program to try to overcome. Now, if all 'student-athletes' could be paid as work/study students from the general budget rather than the athletic budget, I think that's reasonable. After all, when the athletes are performing, they are, in essence, performing PR work for the university (more applications, higher donations, etc. tend to follow successful athletic seasons).
Tapping into the general budget of the University abd not the Athletic budget would not be good. Universities are cutting costs/programs and increasing tuition as it is. Add this to the general budget and the overall student population would be the ones who are negatively affected.
 
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Let them have agents and mortgafe their future like a real bad student loan. Coaches have to stand together then and rat out their own if an agent demands momey or if they know a coach is paying an agent some juice to get an advantage.
 
Let them have agents and mortgafe their future like a real bad student loan. Coaches have to stand together then and rat out their own if an agent demands momey or if they know a coach is paying an agent some juice to get an advantage.

That just isn't going to happen often enough, the only times I am aware of that happening is Fulmer reporting Bama and he was the "secret witness" until someone leaked his name, and the other was Freeze at OM when supposely SEC coaches turned him in, rumor was Richt and Saban but I don't think it was ever confirmed. I think they are all afraid of what skeletons might be in their own closets.
 
Never happen because IRS would no longer grant the programs non profit status as amateur athletics. It would then be professional atheistic, which is a business and taxable.
 
1. Edsall probably tweeted this for the sake of recruiting just as more as a moral stance.
2. That's fine.
3. Where does the money come from? The NCAA is awash in TV money. They sell the rights to March Madness for billions with a "b". There is another thread on this here website detailing how much the SECN pays out to its member schools. There is money to play players a stipend.
4. The hiring of former coaches as analysts for six figures a pop perfectly illustrates the glut of money in collegiate sports. They are so awash in extra money that they build locker rooms with waterfalls and pay has been coordinators to watch film and do practice prep.
5. Room, board, and tuition isn't enough. Would you work about 40 hours a week (15 hrs of classes, 20 hours of practice, 5 hours of lifting/film session) for a company that paid for your housing and a six month meal card, or would you work for a company that paid you a wage for your talents and skills?
6. Where else could the money come from? Let the superstars make money signing jerseys, etc. Maybe I'm just a capitalist to the core, but it's dumb they can't make money at approved autograph sessions given the market demand. Would that pay out the gymnast at Morehead St? No but they aren't superstars and them's the breaks sometimes in life.
 
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The cost for giving the football players as much as all but one or two schools is paltry, compared to the "business" football is.

Pretty simple math, they are already paying the players, just some are paying a lot more than others (us), last I saw UK had improved to close to $3400 per year per scholarship, to get up with the competition it would cost about $2,500 to barely pass most of them and almost catch #1, City College Cincy. As I noted in another post 85 times 2.5K is only $212,500, a pittance for football when you consider coaches salaries AND stupid buyouts. However the figure floating around for UK to catch up is about $2,000,000, but that is for ALL (mandated) athletic scholarships, and I think there are between 400 and 500 total, lots of them partial in the "minor" sports.

But 2.5 x400 is only $1,000,000 so looks like everyone in the athletic department has to get a cut, lol. No, I think if you raise it for athletes it raises the COA for everyone and affects loans to regular students etc, not sure how that works and how it came out to be $2,000,000, still a pittance to improve ALL of UK's sports, the main MONEY one being football, where it should pay off big. Not an expense as much as it would be an investment, and one that would pay off, IMO, borrowing the money for CW improvements prompted over $40,000,000 in DONATIONS for the "football center". It is probably UK's most profitable "business", and it is big business now, just ask Bama.

All I know is we need to be competitive with Bama more than they do with Auburn (not Bama so much as MOST of the schools we play every year, most of the SEC schools plus Transfer U way ahead of us now), two of the schools from one of the poorest states, Mississippi, among the leaders.

The football coaching staff is making over $8,000,000 a year now, PLUS some raises and adding a tenth coach, IF they gave up about THREE percent of their crazy salaries (what does Stoops need with a couple million more after he gets $2,000,000 for the BARE NECESSITIES?, lol), looks to me like it would be a great investment in their longevity AND advancing in their profession.

Of course some coaches, like hurtt, just give it out in $100 handshakes, and while it is illegal some schools have it in their budget.

Exactly. In Spurrier's last season he opened up about trying to get the SEC coaches to give up a sliver of their salaries to prevent the $100 handshakes.
 
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How much per player spread across several sports? It seems like the money would eventually run out if you have to pay the players and fund each program. Football let alone has 85 athletes.
Which is EXACTLY what should happen.
 
My post from the basketball board:

30 years ago, a man I worked with told me that high profile scholarship sports should be dissolved and regional basketball and football teams should be created that are associated with different universities so that a player may be paid a salary or a stipend with an education. So, athletes just wanting to pursue their dream would be paid a nice starting wage. The teams would align with schools and profits would support those schools. That, or something in that lane, seems like a better idea every day.

Universities should be places that are revered and were integrity is promoted. Politics and sports do great damage to that lofty ideal.
 
A Couple Spring games against teams in a lower class the last couple weeks of Spring Practice would create the needed money and not be to costly would even help the teams that are not power 5. limit Coaches pay and spending could also create extra funds. Allow baskeball teams to do something like the barn storming UK seniors use to do would help in basketball they could go to the high school camps and help . Allow individual players to make their own deals. Start making rules to keep Kids in School not to get them out. They are profit making students and should be treated as such.
 
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Do the room, board and tuition not have value?


...And 3 large meals/day.....and snacks whenever you want them.
...And a nutritionist to guide you.
...And a round the clock personal trainer....often a small team of trainers.
...And personal tutoring.
...And an absolute ton of clothing.
...And travel expenses.
...And either catered or provided meals occasionally at home but always on the road. When I was with Middle it ranged from Subway to O’Charleys plus getting $20-40 cash per diem. At Vandy it ranged from Outback to Ruth’s Chris.
...And round the clock medical care from a team of Dr’s and ATC’s
...And tickets to events.
...And unlimited access to a state of the art gym/rec center.
...And.
...And.


Back in the ‘90’s we estimated that an athlete received a package of around $75-80k/yr at a OVC/Sunbelt team like MTSU.
 
UK has around 230 Athletic scholarships.

Thanks. Even harder for me to see it costing an estimated $2,000,000 (the estimate I have seen) to put UK up with the competition, and I think the 230 might be the full rides (even less than my guess) and there might be 400 athletes counting all the partial scholarships, is that right?
 
Just watched the end of VIllanova getting upset, and they announced their star player AND their coach (ex Xavier coach?) would both be out of tonight's game. Serious mess coming up in bb, maybe football?
 
Exactly. In Spurrier's last season he opened up about trying to get the SEC coaches to give up a sliver of their salaries to prevent the $100 handshakes.

And in the P5 schools it would only be a sliver, 3% from UK's football coaches to pay the football players what Transfer U, Thug U, Cincy and most of our competition are paying.
 
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Thanks. Even harder for me to see it costing an estimated $2,000,000 (the estimate I have seen) to put UK up with the competition, and I think the 230 might be the full rides (even less than my guess) and there might be 400 athletes counting all the partial scholarships, is that right?
There are more than 230 athletes receiving some sort of scholarship, but the amount of dollars spent amongst those athletes is the equivalent of 230 scholarships. i.e. 2 half scholarships = 1 full scholarship.
 
And do you pay the players monthly or weekly? It just, too me, takes the amateur status away The average college student has to pay for their school, if they don’t receive a academic scholarship, athletes if rewarded are provided a 50k+ scholarship and a free ride, now they want paid? Do they want carried to class too?
50+...coa, free tutoring, Pell grants, free clothes-shoes the best of the food , free health and more. Most college kids would kill for these benefits. What is it like 1% of college players go pro and we'll over half these kids won't even graduate even if they stay five years
 
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There are more than 230 athletes receiving some sort of scholarship, but the amount of dollars spent amongst those athletes is the equivalent of 230 scholarships. i.e. 2 half scholarships = 1 full scholarship.

Right, what I was trying to say. 230 full but a lot of them divided up.
 
...And 3 large meals/day.....and snacks whenever you want them.
...And a nutritionist to guide you.
...And a round the clock personal trainer....often a small team of trainers.
...And personal tutoring.
...And an absolute ton of clothing.
...And travel expenses.
...And either catered or provided meals occasionally at home but always on the road. When I was with Middle it ranged from Subway to O’Charleys plus getting $20-40 cash per diem. At Vandy it ranged from Outback to Ruth’s Chris.
...And round the clock medical care from a team of Dr’s and ATC’s
...And tickets to events.
...And unlimited access to a state of the art gym/rec center.
...And.
...And.


Back in the ‘90’s we estimated that an athlete received a package of around $75-80k/yr at a OVC/Sunbelt team like MTSU.

That is a lot, surprising to me for that level, but then I guess an education costs a lot anywhere in today's world. But then I was never one yelling for the COA, although I don't disapprove of it because of the obscene money in major programs in today's world and the inequity of how the money was being split up. The pros even crazier, insane, and I refuse to contribute to the madness, maybe watch PART of a game occasionally, and I heard someone on TV say that PRO basketball was undoubtedly the most popular sport, almost had to laugh out loud.

I think the idea of the COA was a good one, but letting the NCAA in charge of anything a big mistake. And it is going to create a LOT of inequities, the biggest between P5 players and players on lower levels that won't get anything. As far as that goes I would have paid them to play college football, spent a lot of time and money chasing a football all my life. One big reason for joining the Army was the chance to play in the service, two brothers had offers, one in Texas to Texas Tech and at UK, UK partly because of his high school career, one at Ft Lewis an offer to Washington. Both got married and settled down and did very well for themselves.

I went to Ft Bliss with no tackle team, would have been transferred in to the base flag football (should have been) champion team that I scored four TDS against, they recruited so had a bunch of stars but not so great a team, but couldn't until they got off the base to go to Fourth Army playoffs at Ft Sill, but they lost the base final game in overtime. So my career was restricted to flag football and officiating for 33 years, lots of city and company leagues, several of which I started from scratch.

The prime requisite for playing football is loving to play the game, as far as I am concerned-------and I am sure it did cost me a lot money wise if you consider the time spent at it. Great memories though. I am sure a lot of high school players would pay a lot for the opportunity to keep playing that these guys have, especially at the SEC level.

Not all of them though, maybe the smarter ones wouldn't, lol.
 
I think there should be a LOT more headlines like this one, not nearly enough, in fact scarce IMO:

http://sportspolls.usatoday.com/2018/02/08/exfootball-player-donates-5-million-to-illinois-program/

Although more of it should somehow be donated to the players benefit (not sure how you do that legally) at the programs where the players DON'T get what I consider adequate spending money---------and my interest in raising UK's is more of a selfish one, not that I think the players need more than UK is paying them now but that it hurts our teams chances of competing to not match the competition.
 
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That is a lot, surprising to me for that level, but then I guess an education costs a lot anywhere in today's world. But then I was never one yelling for the COA, although I don't disapprove of it because of the obscene money in major programs in today's world and the inequity of how the money was being split up. The pros even crazier, insane, and I refuse to contribute to the madness, maybe watch PART of a game occasionally, and I heard someone on TV say that PRO basketball was undoubtedly the most popular sport, almost had to laugh out loud.

I think the idea of the COA was a good one, but letting the NCAA in charge of anything a big mistake. And it is going to create a LOT of inequities, the biggest between P5 players and players on lower levels that won't get anything. As far as that goes I would have paid them to play college football, spent a lot of time and money chasing a football all my life. One big reason for joining the Army was the chance to play in the service, two brothers had offers, one in Texas to Texas Tech and at UK, UK partly because of his high school career, one at Ft Lewis an offer to Washington. Both got married and settled down and did very well for themselves.

I went to Ft Bliss with no tackle team, would have been transferred in to the base flag football (should have been) champion team that I scored four TDS against, they recruited so had a bunch of stars but not so great a team, but couldn't until they got off the base to go to Fourth Army playoffs at Ft Sill, but they lost the base final game in overtime. So my career was restricted to flag football and officiating for 33 years, lots of city and company leagues, several of which I started from scratch.

The prime requisite for playing football is loving to play the game, as far as I am concerned-------and I am sure it did cost me a lot money wise if you consider the time spent at it. Great memories though. I am sure a lot of high school players would pay a lot for the opportunity to keep playing that these guys have, especially at the SEC level.

Not all of them though, maybe the smarter ones wouldn't, lol.



I’ve been lucky enough to be around many programs and they almost all provide similar “compensation” for their athletes. What I will say is that athletes don’t really get much cash compensation. If they want to go to a bar, a movie, a restaurant, etc. I wouldn’t mind them getting some cash but how do you regulate it? $2000 a semester can go pretty far in Lexington or Starkville, but what about LA or NYC? And it still wouldn’t shut people up. You’d have some that’d be fine with a little but some would never be satisfied. It’s a slippery slope.
 
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And do you pay the players monthly or weekly? It just, too me, takes the amateur status away The average college student has to pay for their school, if they don’t receive a academic scholarship, athletes if rewarded are provided a 50k+ scholarship and a free ride, now they want paid? Do they want carried to class too?
And the average college student on academic/extracurricular scholarship isn't forbidden from taking money from anyone unless it's criminally illegal. Why should they get the chance to be paid more when they are making far less for the school than a student-athlete is?

If some star student created something amazing and every company in America from his or her respective field was recruiting them to their company, those companies could wine and dine then and give them whatever money and presents they wanted and no one would even care.

Change that to a future NBA All-Star instead of just a student and make it an agent or an NBA team doing the wining and dining and giving money and gifts and holy freaking crap it's now illegal as hell.

You tell me what is the difference. Why is it the star student can get treated like that but the future NBA All-Star can't?
 
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And the average college student on academic/extracurricular scholarship isn't forbidden from taking money from anyone unless it's criminally illegal. Why should they get the chance to be paid more when they are making far less for the school than a student-athlete is?

If some star student created something amazing and every company in America from his or her respective field was recruiting them to their company, those companies could wine and dine then and give them whatever money and presents they wanted and no one would even care.

Change that to a future NBA All-Star instead of just a student and make it an agent or an NBA team doing the wining and dining and giving money and gifts and holy freaking crap it's now illegal as hell.

You tell me what is the difference. Why is it the star student can get treated like that but the future NBA All-Star can't?


It’s kinda a moot discussion. The vast, vast majority of collegiate athletes are not going to be professional stars. Heck most wont even play professionally. Most athletic teams in college lose money hand over fist.
 
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