Originally Posted by NJFlyr71
Listened to J Bilas over the weekend. He said everyone knew/knows this has been going on for years. (Note he didn't seem to think it was a big deal that this may have been an unfair playing field ).
He also said we have to bring this issue of "amature" into the 21 century and 'pay these kids'. He equated them as just like regular students that have no restrictions to earn money while in school. I don't agree with how that would really solve the whole thing. I stated in a previous post that the elite players will still get 'additional money' from some place to go to some other place AND collect the stipend just like the schmuck who plays 2nd string right field (no offense intended here) in baseball.
Now some other things he stated I could agree with or slightly thought they made sense ... paying a player for their name (on a shirt) or likeness I can see, maybe establishing a fund that they can collect after college career is over.
I was astonished on how cavalier Mr Bilas thought this all to be .... (I believe he is or was a lawyer too, wasn't he? ).
His attitude: Everyone knew so what's the big deal here just change the rules to make it 'official' come on NCAA do the right thing!
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Clearly I'm missing something. Isn't getting a scholarship, worth anywhere from probably 40k to > 200k, essentially paying the player? I mean, it's not cash, but it certainly can be valuable. Now, I agree, there are some players who don't care about a scholarship, don't care about school, whatever. To that end, let them go straight to the G league or go play in Europe, get paid cash, endorsements, whatever. It will only have a mild impact on the game for the top schools.