I hate it when Doyel makes me agree with him

Jesus Christ, it's not three years rowing next to Ben-Hur. It's three years in decent lodging, good food, good medical care and by the way, playing a freaking game. I realize most of them don't get to the NFL. But for many of them, the three-to-five years they were in college beats the hell out of three-to-five years they would have remained on the street corner -- or 10-to-life.

 

Again, if being "exploited" means free room and board, food, medical care, an education (which you can take advantage of if you wish, to whatever extent you wish), travel to more places than you'd see in the hood, fame, adulation and the guarantee of getting laid every night of the week, sign me the hell up.

 

Bingo! We have a winner!
This is how colleges operate.
They pay adjunct profs chicken-feed. I know a person who was paid $1200 for a semester of teaching at a four-year college. Did the school charge any less per credit than they would have if it had been taught by a full-salaried prof? NO. Did they pay the adjunct the equivalent of what a full-salaried prof would have gotten for teaching that single class? NO. Why? Because they make more money that way.
At $665 per credit X 3 credits for the course X 22 students in the class, the school grossed about $44,000. Oh, and throw in the text they charged probably $150 for that cost about $6 for another $3,150 or so. That's almost 50 grand on one class. And they paid the teacher $1200.
You still think football players are the only ones making money for colleges?
Ha!

 

He gets paid six figures.

 

Oh, yeah, not to have any student loans when all is said and done, be a BMOC, and not be stupid enough not to take advantage of all the resources available to athletes, and come out of it with a degree and connections, if not a pro career. The best "pay" imaginable

 

That is certainly a fair minimum for some players. However, the best players are still being exploited relative to the compensation they would receive if they were not denied a fair market for their skills in the U.S.

If someone has a talent level in a particular field that puts him/her in the Top 1 percent of people in that field, whether it's playing the violin or ballet dancing or playing basketball, they shouldn't be regulated out of establishing a market for their services, which is exactly what the NCAA is doing in concert with the NFL and the NBA because it serves as an unpaid minor league for the professional leagues while providing a viable product with cheap labor and huge profit margins for the NCAA.

Hopefully European and other professional leagues will continue to develop and fill the market void that has been created by the industry giants in the U.S. That seems to be a much more likely scenario for basketball than football.