Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

*Prof Withycombe has given permission to post late due to medical issues.

Collegiate athletics provide for some of the most entertaining array of sports. Both men’s basketball and football are widely watched and appreciated throughout the United States of America. The Typical Division I college football player devotes 43.3 hours per week to his sport, which equates to three more hours than a typical American works in a given week. With this much time being spent on a given athletic activity, this leaves little time for student athletes to maintain a job, on top of a heavy school load they must complete (and do well in) to compete in athletic events for their school. While, this year, The University of Alabama reported 143.3 Million in athletics revenues—(more than all 30 NHL teams and 25 of the 30 NBA teams), their players struggle to put groceries in their shelves. Last year the average salary for a BCS eligible football coach was 2.05 million dollars. Given that we have millions to spend on coaches, I do not think that giving players a small stipend of money would not be taking away from the integrity of collegiate athletics, rather it would improve it. Players would be able to focus on their schoolwork and athletics, since that is what they came to school for in the first place, correct? I think a small stipend of money for collegiate athletes would improve overall flow of the NCAA.

That being said, I personally believe the intention of the NCAA is not being fulfilled. The student-athletes are being failed by the collegiate sport system. The NCAA is no longer about providing quality education to those that are athletically gifted, but has quickly transformed into labor exploitation of young college athletes. Student-athletes simply do not have enough hours in a week to support themselves financially, excel in academics, and perform at practice and on game day. As the NCAA grows, money is increasing exponentially for everyone involved except the players. The staff, the director, the University, etc. are receiving an enormous amount of money each year that only grows larger, while the players continue to be exploited and manipulated. Mark Emmert, the President of the NCAA stated it quite clearly. “It has far less to do with the players in the jerseys than the jerseys themselves”. The NCAA is now more about the Universities success than the student’s success. 

Recently, after winning the National Championship, point guard for the University of Connecticut Shabazz Napier is quoted to have said "It is hard to watch your jersey's being sold when you're going hungry [yourself]".