Hopefully this effort can be used to eliminate the farcical nature of the NCAA. The hypocritical nature of profiting from student efforts while they cannot profit themselves, especially from their own likenesses.
I do however find that the Universities are quite correct in saying that the value of a full scholarship is dramatic payment for these kids. I'm still paying off my student loans and should finish just about the time my own kids go to college. College tuition, room, and board is more per year than most people make, and it's quite a bit to be giving these kids to play a season of football or basketball games.
Now we really can't get into a payment/bidding war between schools for athletes. (Some cynics would say it's already happening, but quite on the down low) but not to a huge degree. If you think its bad having 22 year old millionaires trying to navigate the world while the rest of us heap money on them, imagine it's 17-18 year olds in every high school with a big program. There is no end to the grabbing/funneling/bribing that would go on.
I also believe there is a place for amateur athletics, and that someone, somewhere should care about the simple integrity of sport and not to bastardize everything good in the world. No one would dispute that college basketball has been destroyed by the one-and-done gang. The NBA doesn't look so smooth at times either, with every team having to continually bank its future on teenagers demanding entry to the league. It has put total control of the league in the hands of the few star caliber players who stick around and can dictate success or failure to the teams they choose to play on. College ball should be amateur, and the players should be student athletes who consider themselves lucky to play and receive a scholarship and who give solid true effort for the privilege. College ball should not be forced to be a seedy, underhanded, back alley payoff cesspool of graft. The programs shouldn't have to go out and recruit a whole new team every year as kids use the programs as an irritating stepping stone to their NBA dreams. Kids who truly have the talent to play in the league right out of high school though should not be denied the option of jumping right away.
So this new G League jump may be the answer, if handled properly. I think this would work:
Anytime after graduating high school, a player can audition for the G league. If the league accepts them, they can negotiate a salary arrangement and become pro's, fully aware that it is a minor league developmental home for the NBA. If the NBA wants to call them up, they can do so, and willing teams can bid for a contract. Players also have to know that taking this path will professionally preclude them from ever getting an athletic scholarship to college for that sport. This will hopefully allow an end to the joke about kids who truly have no interest in being college students and only want to use the school for a year to get into pro ball. Hopefully will diminish the influence of dirty organizations like the AAU and eliminate the need for illegal payoffs.
Those other young men who really want to go to college, to get their education and get a degree, and play basketball on a huge stage and possibly get into the NBA can do so with scholarship privileges. The scholarship is the only payment they should receive ( it really is an incredible value) and the schools and conferences use the revenue to fund the other sports and the schools' general fund, as it should. The players offered a scholarship would need to commit to at least three years with the school to justify the scholarship offer and coaching and recruiting efforts. There would still be a draft and players would be taken after three or four years at the school. The schools should be precluded from using players' likenesses for anything except to promote the games themselves. There would be a lot more stability and talent and maturity in the college game again.
Although everyone has big dreams, the kids coming out of high school and their families would need to realize that very very few have the ability to jump and succeed. There just aren't that many spots in the NBA on a year to year basis. The collegiate pathway has a lot more options in life for young men, if they are of the type to seek it. The guys seeking a quick payday have a pathway to do so, if they have the skills.
I think having colleges try to compete financially by giving the team members new ability to try to grab dollars from the local community in a free for all is going down the wrong path and will only overcomplicate and pervert the process even more. Keep colleges clean, and allow the mercenary crowd an different opportunity in the G League if they can do it. Having the colleges, G League, and the Pros all trying to fight with each other for dollars and teenagers in a sloppy soup of corruption isn't the answer.
