NCAA Basketball: It’s time to compensate the players
By John Ryan
If the recent FBI findings have made one thing clear, It’s that change in college basketball is on the horizon. Now it’s on the NCAA to finally compensate their athletes.
Division-1 college athletics is a multi-billion-dollar industry. In 2016 alone, the National Collegiate Athletic Association grossed nearly one-billion dollars, reporting roughly 995.9 million-dollars made during that year. According to the NCAA, in 2012, roughly 81% of their revenue came from television partnerships.
To put it simply, fans are not watching college basketball because of the NCAA. Almost universally, people watch college athletics because of the players and the product they supply. It seems Ironic that exactly zero of the multi-billion-dollars grossed goes to the individuals really making that money.
41 college programs pay their basketball coaches more than one-million-dollars per year. John Calipari tops this list making over seven-million-dollars, according to USA Today. 29 college athletic programs pocket over 100-million-dollars, with Texas A&M topping the list at roughly 195-million-dollars per year, also according to USA Today.
Again, the common theme remains that each party, outside of the players, are making more than their fair share. There is no justified reason that schools and NCAA can combine to make over a billion-dollars while the athletes continue to receive none.
The NCAA is dysfunctional. It continues to prove that its sole interest is in maximizing its profit, all while they punish their athletes for doing anything to generate some themselves. A perfect example of this dysfunction is encoded within their improper benefit rules.
Per the NCAA’s compliance handbook an improper benefit is defined as stated,
"“any special arrangement by an institutional employee or a representative of the institution’s athletic interests (including fans) to provide a student-athlete or the student-athlete’s relative or friend a benefit not expressly authorized by the NCAA legislation”."
The definition of this rule makes sense. In a perfect world, college athletics functions inside of the boundaries without any bribery taking place. However, we all know that is not how the culture of college sports functions.
What is not described in this definition, but affects players routinely, is their inability to profit off their likeness. Countless college athletes, most notably Johnny Manziel while at Texas A&M, have been punished for making money, simply being themselves. In his case, Manziel allegedly accepted money in exchange for an autograph, something the NCAA should have no control over.
If the NCAA can make billions of dollars off of its athletes, how can they not make $20 for an autograph? This system is hypocritical and is one of the root causes for dysfunction in college sports.
Paying division-1 athletes is a rather divisive topic. People opposed to the idea often point to their full-ride scholarship and how that should balance out their contribution to the program. It’s a fair point, but how much are scholarships really worth to these athletes?
There’s no one right answer to this question. Athletes who stay all four years, earn their degree, and never go pro in their respective sport may find their free education invaluable. The hole in this argument is that these athletes are rarely the ones driving attention to their sport.
The top athletes are the ones who drive viewership and supply the best product. There’s a reason Duke verse North Carolina is a massively more attractive matchup than any mid-major showdown. So what does a scholarship mean to these athletes?
One-and-done college basketball players make use of one scholarship year. This covers their housing, meals, and cost of tuition. As an example, the University of Arizona costs roughly $51,000 to attend for one year.
Deandre Ayton is worth much more than $51,000 to both the NCAA and Arizona. He’s not an outlier, but rather the example. Any star college basketball player is worth astronomically more than what his scholarship would indicate.
Another problem with using scholarships as the sole “payment” to players for their service is that it leaves them broke. These are not normal college students. They do not have the time or ability to get a job, as NCAA rules prevent athletes from working jobs, and a meal plan can only cover so much. Having no spending money as an 19-year-old individual is frustrating and unrealistic.
This brings us to the current situation in College basketball. In case you missed it, recent Yahoo reports have linked major programs and athletes, current and former, to receiving payments from ASM sports agency. The FBI investigations this is linked to has already stripped Louisville of their 2013 National championship, and only a fraction of the report has allegedly been leaked.
After years of speculation around the inside workings of college sports, the corruption has come to the forefront. Athletes are being paid, whether you support it or not, and now changes must be made.
If the NCAA insists on continuing to not pay its athletes, they still have other ways to let them be compensated for their contributions. Let them profit off their self. Simply allowing players to accept advertisement opportunities or to accept money from outside parties, not linked to college programs, does nothing to affect the NCAA.
Next: Bracketology one week before Selection Sunday
If the NCAA is unable to act swiftly on this topic then they will suffer. Top recruits have started to seek alternate pre-NBA routes and this trend could continue with corruption at the forefront. It’s time to start letting the players make their fair share.