Athletes don’t need extra money
COMMENTARY
Patrick Jennings

The NCAA basketball tournament is over, and that means the end of “revenue-producing” college sports until August. However, there are still big stories in college athletics.

The first one is paying college football players. There’s legislation being passed around in the Big 12 states to provide athletes with an extra stipend in addition to their all-expenses paid education. The idea is that these students are producing truckloads of revenue for the university and should see some of the fruits of their labor.

At the risk of getting the snot kicked out of me by a linebacker, I’m going to say that this is a really bad idea. I fear an environment where smaller football schools will lose even more talent to the major conferences, which have the money to pay players. Nebraska can already offer a bigger stage and a better program against playing near home or getting more playing time at a smaller school. College football needs more parity, not less.

I had this argument with a few guys in the newsroom and one of them made the point. “They get paid already, let’s just make it official,” he said. I agree, there’s a lot of shady dealings with athletes getting paid for normally low-paying summer jobs or they mysteriously find themselves with a new car, but that’s no excuse to make illegal actions legal. Paying off and giving gifts to football players is against NCAA regulations for a reason. Outside money puts teams on an uneven playing fields.

What surprises me is that people think athletes are being mistreated. They’re getting a full ride to college. They can get accepted into universities with academic credentials that would normally make an admission officer laugh. Oklahoma University spent $1.2 million on advisors, tutors, specialists and the like just for their athletes, according to ESPN.com. Yes, people are making money hand over fist, but as I said, the students are being compensated.

I just mentioned the sometimes mediocre academic record of student athletes, and that’s the topic of a brewing debate in college basketball. The graduation rate in Division I men’s college basketball has dropped to 34 percent, compared to 60 percent for the general population and 59 percent for athletes, according to information from ESPN.com. Oklahoma’s graduation rate for the men’s basketball program last year was zero percent.

The NCAA is considering punishing low-performing schools by taking away scholarships and possibly rewarding extra scholarships to schools with high graduation rates. This proposal would apply to all sports from archery to wrestling.

I want to see just how tough their plan would be and how strict the penalties are. I do agree that the standard should be higher than a 400 on the SATs. In case you weren’t sure, that’s lower than the score you get for signing your name on the test and walking out.

The graduation rates can be misleading. Some schools are understandably worried that if they sign big name prospects who bolt for the NBA, they could lose scholarships. I agree. The school shouldn’t be punished for having players that would rather earn $3 million next season than complete their degree in “urban studies.” On the other hand, the NCAA is trying to crack down on players who use college merely as a springboard to the NBA and ignore their studies. It’s not the schools fault if the players are doing that.

There are several arguments against stricter standards. Some say athletes devote a large amount of time to sports which should be taken into account when you see low scores. Some even suggest shortening the season or the training schedule so it doesn’t hurt academics. Others are worried athletes will choose easier majors to guarantee their eligibility.

It’s a tough thing to balance, being part amateur student-athlete, part big-ticket showcase. However, college sports simply should not take precedence over college education. To do so cheapens every place of higher learning in the country.

Patrick Jennings is a freshman economics major from Melbourne, Fla.