California Thumbs Nose At NCAA

[Alford Bailey 12,373]

Maybe it wasnt in this group but I remember seeing somewhere what an IU athletic scholarship was worth. Not just tuition but all other benefits included. It was substantial.

[ray 1,563]

Free tuition is worth far more than what a semester costs when you factor in most students without free tuition will be hit with 20-30 years of interest before their education is paid off.  Couple that with how many additional incentives students are offered as student athletes and I see no reason to offer more. 

I agree that 99% of players are being watched because of the school they attend, although there are those players like Zion who would have been followed by some fans no matter which school he attended.  I think it is bogus that high school players have to attend college at all in order to play in the NBA, but the exposure gained from playing at a major university exceeds the exposure from being paid to play overseas.  The NBA should allow high school players to join the draft.  Those players capable of making it in the pros immediately can then make plenty of money out of high school.  Until then, college is for a student athlete just like it is for any other student...a place to hone your skill, attend job fairs (play under the big lights), and gain employment later.  Now, should players be allowed to gain sponsorship deals?  I think it's criminal they aren't allowed to, but I also see how difficult it would be to keep payments funneling directly from the universities to the players under the disguise of a sponsorship deal.

I understand they don't have time for a traditional job due to their schedules, but college players have FAR less to pay for than non athletes do.  I'm not so sure a job is too necessary.  And, if it is necessary, then they can do what I did and work their tails off over the summers (or whenever their off-seasons occur).

[cthomas 6,390]

This is the age of "get mine" and get it now and little else. Free agency and the constant movement of players ruined professional sports for me and collegiate sports seem to be headed in the same direction. Why stop with letting college athletes profit from their skills. Why not high school kids who are highly sought after as well. I have no say in this so I'm not going to spend a lot of time thinking about it. But where it ultimately ends up, and the implications of it, will probably determine my level of interest in college athletics going forward.

[Alford Bailey 12,373]

I wonder what Jerome Hunters scholarship has been worth this last year with all his medical issues?

[Brass Cannon 24,477]

28 minutes ago, Alford Bailey said:

I wonder what Jerome Hunters scholarship has been worth this last year with all his medical issues?

You don’t really get to count that or at least I don’t think you want to. If we did a lot of these guys especially in football end up with lifelong injuries that aren’t covered after graduating. 

Besides I’d his parents had decent insurance probably less than 10,000

[DougWil 44]

Here's a report that says the average annual athletic scholarship at IU-Bloomington in 2017-18 was $23,065 for men and $21,929 for women. That includes full and partial scholarships. The report doesn't break IU's numbers down by sport, but nationally it shows that the sports with the highest average annual scholarship amounts for NCAA1 were women's hockey at $41,693 women's gymnastics at $40,172, men's basketball at $38,246, women's basketball at $36,758, and football at $36,070. http://www.scholarshipstats.com/average-per-athlete.html

These amounts are a lot of money for young people, but not much at all in comparison to the money being raked in by the high-profile sports at many large universities. IU reported $123 million in athletic revenue in 2018. Archie Miller makes a salary of $3.35 million per year.  Tom Allen makes between $2 and $3 million depending on the incentives he earns. In that environment, I'm glad if a star player can legally earn some additional money to put in the bank. After all, is Archie Miller or any coach truly worth more than 800 times the value of his best player in a given year? If you go by Archie's financial compensation compared to a player's (800x$40Kscholarship=$3.2M), that's what the numbers suggest.  

[Old Friend 8,389]

1 minute ago, DougWil said:

Here's a report that says the average annual athletic scholarship at IU-Bloomington in 2017-18 was $23,065 for men and $21,929 for women. That includes full and partial scholarships. The report doesn't break IU's numbers down by sport, but nationally it shows that the sports with the highest average annual scholarship amounts for NCAA1 were women's hockey at $41,693 women's gymnastics at $40,172, men's basketball at $38,246, women's basketball at $36,758, and football at $36,070. http://www.scholarshipstats.com/average-per-athlete.html

These amounts are a lot of money for young people, but not much at all in comparison to the money being raked in by the high-profile sports at many large universities. IU reported $123 million in athletic revenue in 2018. Archie Miller makes a salary of $3.35 million per year.  Tom Allen makes between $2 and $3 million depending on the incentives he earns. In that environment, I'm glad if a star player can legally earn some additional money to put in the bank. After all, is Archie Miller or any coach truly worth more than 800 times the value of his best player in a given year? If you go by Archie's financial compensation compared to a player's (800x$40Kscholarship=$3.2M), that's what the numbers suggest.  

What employees at what company make "much in comparison" to the company itself?  Why should college athletes make a bigger piece of the pie than employees at any big business?

Where is anyone paid their true worth in comparison to others?   I think this is a myopic mindset.

[DougWil 44]

23 minutes ago, Old Friend said:

What employees at what company make "much in comparison" to the company itself?  Why should college athletes make a bigger piece of the pie than employees at any big business?

Where is anyone paid their true worth in comparison to others?   I think this is a myopic mindset.

So your argument is that college athletes - no matter what their value they may be - should not make closer to their true worth because employees at other big businesses do not make their true worth. You are correct that my mindset is quite different than yours, although I wouldn't characterize it as myopic. 

Edited October 3, 2019 by DougWil