NCAA president: Time to discuss players ..

[AztecCat]

NCAA president: Time to discuss players getting sliver of revenue pie

www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2011-03-29-ncaa-pay-for-play-final-four_N.htm

Personally: On the flip side, some are getting a free education. Isn't that payment? Although I can see it, being a club athlete at a DI school, we relied on donations, not school money .. so I can see where the factor of working your butt off for no pay can come in. Heck some ROTC students get a stipend. Though the no-pay also shows who's in it for the heart of the game. Bottom line: yes, they should I believe, how much? I don't know.

[Human Avatar]

I think there should be special situations where students can get paid. For example a guy that played on Clemson football takes care of his little brother, goes to school, works, and plays football. He gets offers for donations to help support his brother but he can't accept them.

Other than that I think the easiest thing would be money from jersey and memorabilia sales. If you straight up pay students then it is a minor league, and how do you decide who deserves to be paid? Because you can't pay everyone. The schools are already broke as shit.

And what do they need this money for exactly? As I understand it a full ride means housing (which includes food) and I'm sure they can find work in the offseason. So I am confused by what the money is going to exactly.

[SHOWlan]

If we start paying college athletes the quality will slowly decline. You can't tell me getting a free ride and a top quality education is not enough. Like Human Avatar said free rides include housing and food so what do they need this money for?!? Yeah it'd be nice for the athletes to have it, but they do not need it. Yes I know workouts and practices take up a lot of these athletes time even during the off season making it much more difficult for them to work, but that's exactly the point they play for the love of the game and not the money which is what makes college sports better than professional ones in many cases. Also if they really are so broke how do they all end up with expensive headphones, etc.

[AztecCat]

If pay DOES happen I believe financial responsibility should be taught. Look at how some "pros" spend their money. Also if they are paid before they turn pro maybe they will be taught the proper handling of money .. so you don't have the 2...0 year olds in the pros spending money on who knows what.

Also allow a class on image handleing. That way if they DO go pro they know how to conduct themselves. I am imagining going into the pro world, as one who leaves home for the first time .. a "look at me/look what I can do" additude with all this freedom = money.

[AztecCat]

Or how 'bout once they leave early to go pro they pay back their un-used scholarship money

[enolt08]

This is a VERY slippery slope. I think some things like selling jerseys/memorabilia like what the Ohio St players should be ok but then where do you draw the line for other forms of making money?

Also, if schools can pay players the gap between the haves and the have-nots will get so bad that it will make the BCS system look fair.

[SHOWlan]

The only thing that I would even kind of be okay with would if they allowed the school's to sell merchandise and memorabilia with the players likenesses and give them a percentage of the revenue from that. Think about how much money State would have made this year if they could have used the likeness of the basketball players. Now in my mind that might be a win win.

[showstein]

How about have it as part of their scholarship, so the school will have to pay less of the scholarship. If the player's going to make money, which he will if he's good, and a scholarship costs X, the player should be responsible for accumulating some of the revenue for his scholarship. It's almost like fund-raising for a student trip. The school spends less of the scholarship fund, and the player has to engage others, and play well. Opinions?