My take on the recent NCAA Basketball investigations
Those not involved in the sports world may be unaware of what has transpired over the last 24 hours, but it will have a massive impact on college basketball and most likely college sports as a whole.
News broke yesterday morning that 4 assistant coaches were arrested for bribery, fraud, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each of these coaches are looking at a maximum of 80 years in prison.
What the heck was happening?
My understanding from it all was that these top basketball recruits, those in 11th or 12th grade, were basically funneled through this intricate system designed to go to certain schools of choice. These recruits were given upwards of $150,000 to attend desired universities and were set up with certain "financial advisors". Once these highly touted recruits made it to be NBA they would sign a shoe deal with Adidas.
NCAA Teams that have been affiliated:
- Auburn
- Arizona
- Oklahoma State
- South Carolina
This is just the beginning though in my opinion. It isn't going to stop at the above schools. This goes from AAU coaches/directors all the way up to college head coaches.
My take on the whole situation
Looking back a few years ago it seemed that Adidas was struggling majorly. Nike has always been at or near the top in apparel and shoe sales. Under Armour has made a surge as of late. Adidas needed to do something and this was part of the plan --- Get these high school athletes early for a relatively small sum of money, give them shoes and other apparel, and if/when they reach the NBA sign them to a long-term shoe contract.
A little over a week ago there was an article that surfaced that Adidas just passed Jordan and became the 2nd largest shoe selling company in the United States. This feat would have seemed impossible four or five years ago. In August 2017, sales grew 50% compared to the prior August and the share of shoes almost doubled.
Was this a plot brought on by Nike/Jordan that they were passed by Adidas? Probably not, but the timing is extremely interesting.
Players getting paid to go to certain schools have been going on in college football and basketball for a long time. These players who were dirt poor commit or sign with a school and end up driving a $50,000 car or get a new house for their parents before they are in the NBA or NFL.
Is it illegal for athletes to accept money? Yes per the NCAA it is illegal.
Is it wrong? I don't blame these kids at all who struggle to survive to be enticed by money in order to get their parents a new house or themselves a new car.
If you want to read more about this case you can read more here and here
No bro you are not wrong. You said straightforward
None of this is surprising. I know you didn't bring it up, but all of this kind of comes back to should college athletes get paid? If they are legally paid, they would have less reason to take bribes under the table. The amount of money these athletes bring in is absurd and I can definitely see their thought process. Especially when, like you said, they are struggling to survive. I see both sides of the argument to pay college athletes, but I would be surprised if it happens anytime soon.
This is a topic I thought about bringing up! I am mixed about this as well. Do some universities get more money than others based on the geographic region or the type of school. Power 5 vs non Power 5 school. Maybe this situation will help bring it all to light and the players can be taken care of instead of taken advantage of!
Exactly. It would be such a fuster cluck on who can be paid, how much, conferences, sports, etc. I think one of the simplest ways to start would be letting players collect revenue from jerseys sold with their name on it. Unfortunately for us bigger guys, this would be a disadvantage for athletes such as the offensive linemen, but there has to be a way to get around this.
I kept hearing whispers of what was going on, and now I read the whole story. It is not surprising this is a thing. Do you think this will aid or push away the idea that college athletes should be paid?
It is definitely going to bring this topic of paying players to the forefront over these next few years. I think it will aid the idea that college athletes should be paid IF they discover how truly deep this runs. I have heard stories of this going back years and years..