OT: At least Duke didn't give him the full $97k!

[Miklo]

Although I'm obviously a Duke fan, I still think this is pretty significant

http://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/223408/Lance_Thomas_Served_Suit_For_Jewelry_Purchased_While_At_Duke

All I know is, Lance's family was not wealthy. This could be huge if it actually turns out Duke provided him with any benefits outside of his scholarship...2010-title-stripped huge...

Who thinks Duke might be guilty? More importantly, is this something that's rampant in NCAA men's basketball? There are cases every now and then but you have to wonder.

[Kerrsed]

They need to start paying student athletes. End of story.

Between doing the required schoolwork to maintain the grades in order to play and the hours upon hour of practice, this leaves them very little to no time for a part time job to make some cash. Most student athletes are broke as f**k unless they have rich parents, which most of them do not.

Thats when the boosters step in and offer them or their family some cash or other stuff to compensate. The colleges are making a killing off of these kids, yet the kids are broke, so they accept money that is against the rules. When the authorities find out, they strip the school of games won/titles/scholarships/ect.

Its sad when you look at the past 20 years or so and see how many teams that won titles later have had them striped. Its like China sending in underage athletes to the Olympics, them winning gold, then a year or two later when no one cares, they get their medals stripped, but at that point, the olympics have been done for years, so no one cares and its swept under the rug. Same with Athletes and steroid use.

The Colleges should set a set rate to pay players so these kind of things dont happen anymore.

[DRK]

What student in their right mind would splurge 97k on jewelry? As a student myself, I consider an eight dollar Chinese lunch from the shops a splurge. 97k is just totally ridiculous.

The majority kids are getting by fine. Sure, they aren't from the upper class, but these arent homeless people we're talking about. They're College students. If they learn to budget their money well enough, without blowing it on jewellery, they would be just fine.

[WTFsunsFTW]

They're getting free room, board, food, and stipends every semester. Not to mention potentially 6 digits in tuition value waived. "Paying" them on top of this is the easy wrong answer and simply ridiculous, no matter how unbalanced the revenue they generate for the school is. Being a broke ass college student is not a problem; 'college' is latin for broke ass. Having the NCAA be the gatekeeper for 99% of rookie athletes into professional sports is the problem. Someone needs to start a trade school for athletes so government funded state schools don't get put in the middle of this quagmire. Athletes barely get through a year of general education classes before they head off to professional sports. Why not create a school that trains them right away on sports business, health, personal finance, etc instead of traditional education (math, science, history). We are fooling ourselves if we think the current system is the best option for athletes.

[bigfoot]

Suppose a businessman decides to sign loan papers with a student who is guaranteed to be an NBA lottery pick. For example $100K at 18% interest. Payments are deferred for one year until the student is drafted. Is that illegal? I think not. It's risky for the businessman but where can you get 18% on your money now-a-days. The point is I guess it not correct to assume he was just given the money by a Duke booster.

I don't think these kids need to be paid any money. They are however a money generating product for the NCAA. At a minimum they should have their full-tuition waived for six years. That gives them two more years to complete their undergraduate degrees and/or go for a masters. That waiver should be given only if they play all four years or are seriously injured. The players who bail out after one year to chase the professional dollars get what they get.

[JasonDaPsycho]

They need to start paying student athletes. NCAA execs make bunches of money off these athletes. Tuition + Room and board is not enough to compensate for what these students generate for their schools. At the very least, make the current system more flexible and allow for more leeway. It is ridiculous for Thomas to spend six figures on jewelry before he even made it to the pros, but at the very least, allow enough room in the system so a student won't be screwed for asking the school to pay for their bills.

[Moochthemonkey]

They need to start paying student athletes. End of story.

Between doing the required schoolwork to maintain the grades in order to play and the hours upon hour of practice,

The bare minimum needed to "just get by" in Communications/Business/Social Science/Exploratory degrees and similar are not that difficult. This may differ from school to school but athletes don't even need to officially take a full load of courses in regards to a degree path (meaning they can swap a mathematics course with something like playdough animal making or basket weaving)...not to mention teachers tend to be more lenient with the athletes. If students who have already have families, work full time, and maintain decent grades than athletes can too. Note: I'm not belittling the above degrees by any means, as any field is as challenging as you make it. But the minimum work needed for some fields are not as demanding as say a degree path in engineering.

this leaves them very little to no time for a part time job to make some cash. Most student athletes are broke as f**k unless they have rich parents, which most of them do not.


yet the kids are broke

HA!

Free tuition, premium housing and food plans, additional grant money, is NOT ANYWHERE CLOSE to being in the broke student category.

In a sense athletes ARE getting paid. Exceptionally intelligent students get "paid" to go to a school as well.

The Colleges should set a set rate to pay players so these kind of things dont happen anymore.

Paying athletes will not deter potential idiocy.

NCAA execs make bunches of money off these athletes. Tuition + Room and board is not enough to compensate for what these students generate for their schools.

I don't think you understand the entire implications behind what you are saying.

Some time ago I attended ASU in the same housing unit where James Harden lived. The dormitory sizes for athletes is significantly larger than those of normal students. Not to mention they have free room service too. They also have practically unlimited food plans which includes "Sun Dollars" which can be used throughout several stores (including grocery) outside the campus.

Their tuition costs are also fully covered- whereas the scholarship money may be better used on a truly broke student who is their to actually learn. Not to seclude all athletes though; surely there are several athlete students who devote equivocal amounts of focus towards their studies. But more often than not I would assume that is not the case.

It's an immense privilege to be able to play a sport on such a large level....it's also a privilege to be able to study at a university. College is supposed to be one of the best times of your life (for some) and earning it for free makes it easier to be more appreciative. Point being athletes worked hard to reach where they are at, and now they live in near paradise. The money that the college gathers should be used to fund degree programs and research, and/or giving additional scholarship money to athletes if they want to finish their degrees or pursue further education (like someone above mentioned). But certainly not while they are still in school.

[lilfishi22]

Totally agree with you moochthemonkey. The benefits they get from their athletic scholarship is likely much more than any part time job is ever going to pay a student who is juggling work and study. On top of that actual students who are there for study need to work part time just to get by. Athlete students have all their needs taken care of and anything else they need on top of that is a complete luxury.

Paying these athletes a "rate" certainly won't stop them from being idiots as you've mentioned. The "rate" will never be enough unless you open the doors and let them start earning what the market thinks they are worth.

[Dragic13]

Even if the students do get paid they have to pay every student athlete in every sport the same amount.

So trust me if they did pay athletes they would get like 100 bucks a month . More from richer schools.

Thats 1200 bucks a year. Lets say a college has 1000 student athletes. They would have to pay 1,200,000 dollars a year to pay a kid a petty 100 dollars a month.

The kid could get a job and only work one day a week and make more than that.