[TunerSteve]

Originally Posted by Iceman-bass14

While they do generate a lot of money I have come to realize that a college degree,fully paid for,is a GREAT deal for playing a game you love.There are tons of people struggling to make ends meet and a lot who are in debt because of school bills and these guys at least get that.

I agree. The players that are destined for the NBA have other options than the NCAA, but they choose to attend the college that recruit them. No one holds a gun to thier head to go to college, they could go pro right away in Europe, and yes the NBA is constantly scouting those leagues as well.

I also agree that the universities gain much more than they give to the student athletes, but the money making sports (football, basketball) are expected to support many non-revenue producing sports on the campuses as well.

No matter what field you go into in life, you will likely never be paid what you are worth. That's how your employer makes a profit. It's just the way it works.

[Art]

Originally Posted by Iceman-bass14

While they do generate a lot of money I have come to realize that a college degree,fully paid for,is a GREAT deal for playing a game you love.There are tons of people struggling to make ends meet and a lot who are in debt because of school bills and these guys at least get that.

My complain has nothing to do with the school not paying them. The school gives them free school, which is great. But to not allow them to use their own celebrity to make money seems absurd to me. What is gained by not allowing these kids to get free sneakers from Nike? Especially when these schools sign absurd lucrative deals with Nike and the like?

Meh. I just think it is ridiculous to take away victories from a school. I think this is part of it.

[Iceman-bass14]

Originally Posted by thesteve

Sure, but you have to work the math...four years at Stanford is somewhere in the range of $150,000 (including room and board). Given the entire team stays for four years, they would spend $1.5mil in tuition, which probably pales in comparison to what they (the university) make.

And I still dont see why that is a problem.If your going college to just play basketball and your hoping to get some money or free stuff out of it then your going for the wrong reason.Go to Europe and start making money right away if you want to make money right away.The rules are the rules and whether you like them or not you should abide by them or not play.(Im not saying these violations were the fault of the players in this instance though.)

But yeah,its kind of pointless since they didnt win the championship.And to say that you 'beat' Memphis if in fact you lost to them is still pretty stupid,I agree.But I have no problems with the rules in place.

[thesteve]

Originally Posted by Iceman-bass14

And I still dont see why that is a problem.If your going college to just play basketball and your hoping to get some money or free stuff out of it then your going for the wrong reason.Go to Europe and start making money right away if you want to make money right away.The rules are the rules and whether you like them or not you should abide by them or not play.(Im not saying these violations were the fault of the players in this instance though..

And guys are now doing that. I'm not sure that it was as big of an option a few years ago as playing overseas was a largely unexplored territory. I fully expect to see more and more of high school's elite (like Jeremy Tyler) going overseas instead of staying in the US and finishing high school and playing one year of college ball per NBA rules. Of course, NBA rules don't apply to foreign players, allowing Ricky Rubio to be drafted at 18, while no US player of the same age under a traditional schooling track could be drafted.