Some people have dreams of being a Profession Basketball Player, receiving an athletic scholarship to play basketball at a division 1 level, plays a major part of that dream and a step closer to that reality. Being a student-athlete is not easy, your focus must be in the books, and is also expected on the court. Making sure you keep your grades up to not just graduate, but to also be able to play the sport. And then on the court, making sure every day you leave your blood, sweat, and tears on the floor. Playing your heart out so that maybe you’ll have a career playing at the next level (NBA) which according to NCAA.org, the chances of that is 1.1 %. Meaning that the four-years that you worked hard for on and off the court is basically like a test of survival of the fittest, your competing every day to make sure that dream comes true, or at least make sure that the four-year journey is worth it. Majority of these players are coming from low-come areas, they are leaving their struggling families to hopefully be able change the life that they’ve been living. Yes, it is a privilege to be able to receive a free education and play a sport that you love, but is also a major sacrifice, after 4-years of blood sweat and tears and the probability of going to the league being what it is, the sacrifice of not working, like most regular college students do, the sacrifice of being restricted to things, because the NCAA has rules and …show more content…
The young men and women who compete in college sports are students first, athletes second. If you want to compete in NCAA sports at a Division I school, you must be an amateur athlete.” (NCAA.org) The word Amateurism is thrown out there, which prevents these players from receiving any type of money that comes from the selling of their likeness, no matter how much these schools are making off them. Players should be better compensated in NCAA division 1
They do not face problems of debt and tuition to the extent that the normal college student faces. Student-athletes are fairly compensated through publicity and financial benefits, and the NCAA should continue to refrain from paying them. The varying size and interest levels of universities makes it almost impossible to fairly pay all athletes. In order to avoid problems like those exhibited by Northwestern’s football team, who recently tried to unionize, all athletes would need to be paid equally. The excitement brought on by college sports is immense, and problems created due to paying athletes would only hurt the tradition and charisma that college athletics offer. In conclusion, College athletes are students and amateurs, not employees. “Remember student comes first in student-athlete”
Michael Jordan, what comes to your mind when you hear that name? Michael had played for the bulls and had gotten 6 championship rings with the team. Well, is it just me or does that sound like a lot of time in the game of basketball? In 1982 he took a big step up from highschool to college, where he wanted to pursue the basketball dream. He went to college at North Carolina where he played NCAA basketball for just one year before he was drafted in 1984. All eyes were on him when he went on the court, because that just how good he was at the game of basketball. Michael Jordan is one of the greatest players in NBA history, maybe even the greatest of all time.
Critics feel that the term amateurism is only a term used in collegiate sports to show the distinguish the difference between professional and collegiate so that they don’t have to pay college athletes. College athletes are just as talented and just as exposed as professional athletes. The argument is for there to be a share in the profits for wage compensation amongst players is know as pay-for-play. College athletics is a corporate enterprise that is worth millions of dollars in revenue. Pay-for-play is an assumption that colleges and universities receive huge revenues from marketing their collegiate sports programs and that the profits from these revenues are not shared with players who perform in the arena. Which some feel that they should.
Since the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) inception in 1906 there have been laws in place to protect the amateurism status of its student athletes. Over the last 100 years the NCAA has morphed into a multimillion dollar business. The success and revenue that student athletes have brought the NCAA and its member institutions has sparked a debate of whether or not to compensate players for paying. Research in the field has focused on the debate and reasons to pay players and reasons not to. There has been little attempt to assert the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the student athletes. The purpose of this study is to examine what the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of the student athletes towards NCAA amateurism laws. Informal face to face interviews with Division 1 student athletes at universities in Indiana will be conducted to get an analysis of the attitudes, opinions, and feelings Division 1 student athletes have towards NCAA Amateurism laws.
In the collegiate world of sports, basketball has become an increasingly recognized sport among African Americans, predominantly males. The hope of any young basketball player is that one day a scout will come and recruit them into stardom The question that presents itself as a problem to the lucky few who are chosen to go professional, is whether or not an education is more important than a million dollar shoe deal, “The NCAA's (1998) annual six-year study reported that only 33% of Black male basketball players graduated, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1999). Individually, basketball reported the lowest graduation rate in all divisions,” (Robinson, 2004:1). Basketball players have become so idolized in the eyes of young Black male basketball athletes, that the value of education appear to be less important in the development of these young men, “According to Sailes (1997), there is an over-representation of Black males in particular sports and an under-representation in other segments of American society. He provides the example of percentages of Black males competing in the NBA (77%), NFL (65%), MLB (15%), and MLS (16%) in comparison to the fact that fewer than 2% of doctors, lawyers, architects, college professors, or business executives are Black males.”, (Robinson, 2004:1). The idea of the attainment of a professional basketball player’s salary in the NBA, without even having to go to school for the time it takes to earn a degree is very appealing to some players. Those with a wealthy, or even upper-middle class upbringing may not view material assets as a priority. In the Black community, we have theorized that money and success play a more important role than education in most households. Although these two seem to go together, one resulting from the other, this does not apply in the sports world. Our research will examine the role that the family value system plays in influencing Black vs. White male athletes to turn professional, as opposed to obtaining a college degree before turning professional.
First lets explore the history behind the paying of college athletes. Over the past 50 years the NCAA has been in control of all Div.1, 2 and 3 athletic programs. The NCAA is an organization that delegates and regulates what things college athletes can and can’t do. These regulations are put in place under the label of ‘protecting amateurism’ in college sports. This allots
According to livestrong.com, only 3 out of 10,000 high school players actually make it to the NBA. If you do not get drafted, then you cannot play college basketball and that just ruined your dream of ever playing professional basketball. Though, most players do not think about what they will do after the NBA. The money would be great, who would not want millions of dollars for playing basketball? Though, like I said early most NBA players go broke within five years after leaving the league. On average most college degrees take five or six years to get and how will they pay for it if they do not have the money. They are supposed to be adults and some parents will not help their kids. Some want to teach them a lesson or some just can not afford it. Also, it is their retirement, why would they wanted to spend their first five years back in school when they could've already done their school work when they were there on scholarship and had free
College athletes generate millions of dollars for their schools each year, yet they are not allowed to be compensated beyond a scholarship due to being considered amateurs. College athletes are some of the hardest working people in the nation, having to focus on both school courses and sports. Because athletics take so much time, these student-athletes are always busy. College football and basketball are multi-billion dollar businesses. The NCAA does not want to pay the athletes beyond scholarships, and it would be tough to work a new compensation program into the NCAA and university budgets. College athletes should be compensated in some form because they put in so much time and effort, generating huge amounts of revenue.
Abstract: Basketball players who enter the NBA early are not ready for the NBA. Early entry into the NBA by high school and college basketball players has had a negative affect on the college basketball program, the NBA, and the players themselves. Each year the number of early entries in the NBA rises more and more. In 1997, 47 basketball players entered the NBA draft early, and the number has risen since then. The college basketball program is drained of talent due to players leaving early. The high school players that go directly into the NBA are hurting the college program because they never contribute to the college program at all. The NBA now has to deal with a higher level of immaturity and disrespect by young players. College basketball players obtain a certain amount of respect and maturity in college. The players suffer by not grasping the concept of learning due to lack of education. Many analysts say that entering the NBA before finishing a four-year program is entering too early. The NBA commissioner, David Stern, has begun to work on ways to encourage players to go to and stay in college.
In the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia’s definition of “Amateur” it states, during the early 20th century “the American intercollegiate athletic system… adopted amateurism, claiming it developed competitors who were morally superior to professionals” (“Amateur”). Amateurism is the concept that athletes should compete without payment. Until recently, playing collegiate sports as an amateur was thought to be a noble calling. As time surpassed, college sports became a commercialized industry, generating billions of dollars in revenue. When this became apparent, the implementation of athletic scholarships became more relevant. The athletic scholarship seemed to be a more than fair way to delight athletes with some sort of incentive to ensure their participation in collegiate sports. However, many college athletes have become eager to receive a larger cut of the money. The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has issued many regulations indicating the limitations of what athletes can and cannot receive in benefits and compensation. Many individuals argue that the NCAA and colleges are taking advantage of student athletes by not indulging them in the riches of collegiate sports. They believe because the students athletes are the ones spending their time both preparing and competing, they are deserving of a share of the athletic programs’ revenues. Though being a college athlete entails a considerable amount of a student’s time, there are many reasons why the college athlete should not be paid. Therefore, student athletes should not be paid because it would discriminate against schools without the means to pay their athletes, it would alter the principles of college athletics, and it would further compensate student athletes ...
The proposal of payment toNCAA student-athletes has begun major conversations and arguments nationwide with people expressing their take on it. “This tension has been going on for years. It has gotten greater now because the magnitude of dollars has gotten really large” (NCAA). I am a student athlete at Nicholls State University and at first thought, I thought it would be a good idea to be able to be paid as a student-athlete.After much research however; I have come to many conclusions why the payment of athletes should not take place at the collegiate level.The payment of athletes is only for athletes at the professional level. They are experts at what they do whether it is Major League Baseball, Pro Basketball, Professional Football, or any other professional sport and they work for that franchise or company as an employee. The payment of NCAA college athletes will deteriorate the value of school to athletes, create contract disputes at both the college and professional level, kill recruiting of athletes, cause chaos over the payment of one sport versus another, and it will alter the principles set by the NCAA’s founder Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. Under Roosevelt and NCAA, athletes were put under the term of a “student-athlete” as an amateur. All student athletes who sign the NCAA papers to play college athletics agree to compete as an amateur athlete. The definition of an amateur is a person who “engages in a sport, study, or other activity for pleasure rather than for financial benefit or professional reasons” (Dictonary.com).
College athletes juggle busy academic and practice schedules all throughout their stressful weeks, so why shouldn't they be compensated for their time dedicated to sports? NCAA rules strictly prohibits players from being paid for all the hard work they do to protect “amateurism”, but are you really an amateur putting in over 40 hours a week between practice and other activities? Although students earn a college scholarship, that doesn’t cover living expenses, and access to a degree at the end of their career, players should be paid because schools, coaching staffs and major corporations are profiting off their free labor.
According to the NCAA regulations an athlete will lose his/her eligibility if they are paid to play; sign a contract with an agent; receive a salary, incentive payment, award, gratuity educational expenses or allowances; or play on a professional team. The word amateur in sports has stood for positive values compared to professional, which has had just the opposite. The professional sport has meant bad and degrading; while the amateur sport has meant good and elevating. William Geoghegan, Flyer News sports editor writes, “Would paying athletes tarnish the ideal of amateurism? Maybe, but being fair is far more important than upholding an ideal” (Geoghehan 1).
Another reason that college athletes should not be paid is because they are, under NCAA rules, to be considered amateurs. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association Rules it states, “College athletes are not to be paid, not to cash in on their prominence, never to cross any kind of line of professionalism.” Steve Wieberg, of the USA Today, studied the rules that the NCAA has placed on paying college athletes. He concludes that, “Athletic programs are meant to be an integral part of the educational program” (Weinberg). The reoccurring theme here should be obvious now —education is the most important part of the student’s time in college and being an athlete should come second.
If you or anyone else knows a college athlete, especially one who is on scholarship, you would think that they have it easy. Free tuition and room and board; meanwhile you have to work at a part time job and actually pay for your schooling. But in all reality these people earned what they got, because many of these students did not come from wealthy families. According to USA Today, 85% of college athletes who are on scholarships live below the poverty line. So by receiving a scholarship for athletics it is giving them a chance to improve their own quality of life, and as humans we deserve to at least have some sense of self-worth. Athletes get many accommodations while attending school, aside from them going for free; they c...