Pretty good, potentially controversial, and very long read on college sports from The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/10/the-shame-of-college-sports/8643/

I have not yet finished the article, but I want to ask: Why is it so important that college athletes be amateurs?

I'm not going to read it since I have zero interest in an author's views that college sports are corrupt because players don't get part of the take.

That said, I don't see why a system cannot be worked out that allows players to receive payment without it affect their playing status. The way the NCAA wants the system to work simply isn't working, anymore, and isn't likely to work in the future.

Since college football and basketball players are de facto minor leagues for the NFL and the NBA, and you potentially have a similar setup for hockey and baseball, why not make this relationship official and let those entities pay part of the freight?

Let college athletes not ready for the pros continue to play for their teams and allow them to set up trusts similar to what the International Olympic Committee used to do with athletes in their sports? This would let the players hone their skills while not being broke.

Players could even be drafted by any of the pro sports and still remain in college if they aren't ready, receive some sort of stipend, and then move up when their skills allow it and/or their teams simply say it's time.

I know the big argument against this will be the lesser sports, but this would free up scholarship dollars (players drafted and under contract to pro teams would be paid for by those entities and not the schools) to increase the numbers of scholarships available in those sports.

If someone in golf or tennis or track is good enough to also earn money while still in college, same rule applies and some kind of trust is set up while they stay in school.

I don't see why pro sports should get a free ride in this system when they also generate billions of dollars in revenue. Some of that money should be going toward player development at the college level.

FatHobbit;896142 wrote:I have not yet finished the article, but I want to ask: Why is it so important that college athletes be amateurs?

My understanding has always been that the NCAA would risk losing its non-profit/tax-exempt status if it were a group of professionals. Not sure what all the variables are there, but that's what I've gathered is the basic answer. If that is the primary issue, it is easy to say that there is so much money being made that it wouldn't matter, but the little sports that are supported by all that money would be impacted.