Assignment 16 - Matthew Kingkade

Should College Athletes be Paid?

            Over the last few months the University of Louisville has been under intense scrutiny for their accused bribing, and in some cases paying, of their men’s basketball players.  As Kentucky fans we are enthused to see anything negative happen to Louisville, but maybe these players deserved the benefits they received. According to an article written by former college athlete turned writer Malcolm Lemmons, the University of Louisville’s men’s basketball players are the most valuable college athletes in the world valued at $1.72 million based on the $46.5 million that the University of Louisville basketball program generates each year. Many of these players need the money in order to support their families and the money also encourages the players to stay at the university longer allowing them to complete their education. After all, don’t the players deserve compensation for the millions that are made off of them?

            Many college athletes see playing professionally as the only way to betterment because many of them come from financially burdened backgrounds. However, the NBA has a rule in place for college basketball players that requires them to be one year removed from high school before entering the NBA draft, and football players must be three years removed from high school before becoming eligible to enter the NFL draft. In many cases these athletes need money that they would receive playing professionally in order to support their families but they are not able to play professionally until attending college. For example, former University of Kentucky basketball player Skal Labisierre’s family was devastated by the earthquake that struck his home in Haiti in 2010. At the time he was a 15-year-old star with immense potential and dreams of playing professional basketball. In 2015 he came to Kentucky as the number one recruit in the nation and was supposed to be the best college basketball player that year. After underperforming in his one year at UK, Skal decided to forgo his final 3 years of college and enter the NBA draft in order to obtain money to support his family who still lived in Haiti. If Kentucky were permitted to pay their athletes, Labisierre would’ve been able to stay at Kentucky and receive his college degree while still being able to make money for his family. If he were a normal college student he would have been able to work a part time job to make money. But, college athletes don’t have the time to work and as a result are not able to make money. Labisierre is just one example of many college athletes who do not complete college because of the need to make money for their families. Not only does this limit their potential, but it also prohibits them from receiving what many regard as the most valuable possession in the world, their education.

            Although I believe these athletes should be paid, there should be a limit to how much each university should be allowed to offer. Each sport should have a set amount of money that they cannot exceed in spending. This would allow an even playing field for each college that way no one college that may have more money than another would be able to offer more money to these athletes. This would also allow the colleges to determine how much money a player is worth­: a top-level recruit may receive more money than a middle level recruit. Some people opposed to the paying of these athletes say that it may discourage them from ever going to class but one way to combat this issue would be allowing the NCAA to implement a rule that enables the colleges to dock the pay of the athletes if they don’t attend class. However, this may not be necessary, as these athletes would still have to maintain a certain GPA to remain eligible to participate. Another fear those opposed to paying these athletes have is that they will not know how to manage the money. Well, many of these athletes now leave college early in order to play professionally where they make even more money than what these colleges would be paying them so in a way this would also prepare these young athletes for how to manage the greater amount of money that they will receive in the near future.

            So as happy as we may be that the University of Louisville is facing severe punishment for their paying of their men’s basketball players, maybe what they are doing shouldn’t be in the wrong. It’s unfair that these colleges are making millions of dollars off of these young athletes and only giving them a free education to attend the school, and nothing else, while they are at the university to play sports, and nothing more. If we pay these athletes not only would it be the right thing to do, but it would also create a better financial situation for these young athletes and their families.