For years, college athletics has been a business that has claimed to exist for the benefit of the student athlete. For the most part, I believe that to be true at the Division I level, but at Division II or “the deuce,” as it is commonly referred to, is that the case?
Over the last couple of years, there has been much talk of potentially paying Division I football and basketball players salaries to play ball. This past March, former University of Connecticut and current Miami Heat point guard Shabazz Napier mentioned in a post-game interview that he often went to bed “starving” because he didn’t have anything to eat. While this caught national attention because it was a high-profile stating something that was shocking, it did little to garner sympathy from many people.
If we paid players, it would ruin the spirit of the amateurism, which the NCAA prides itself on. It would make the gap between the “power five” conferences, the SEC, Big 12, Pac 12, ACC and Big 10 much bigger than it already is. The boosters from bigger universities already break NCAA regulations to win, what will they do when there are no regulations? Do we really want to see the gap between Texas and North Texas grow any bigger?
The people getting ripped off the most are the ones who aren’t football or basketball players. What happens to the tennis, cross country or track athletes that don’t bring in as much money? Will the NCAA simply choose not to pay them because they don’t bring in a contract from ESPN?
The scholarship amounts are already vastly different and it would be that way for paying players also. Here at Emporia State, a Division II school, a starting football player can get a $9,000 scholarship. That is enough to pay all of their school needs plus get $438 per month. While one of the best tennis player’s gets $1,000 that is not even enough to fully cover tuition.
The NCAA often catches flack because of its inconsistency with its rules. If the NCAA really wants to do its best to please the student athlete, they should start by giving a little more to the athletes who won’t be on ESPN every Saturday.
