The short answer? YES. Once you decide that, you have to figure out how to do it. Therein lies the problem. Numerous problems present themselves. Let's list them:
Who do you pay?
How much do you pay them?
Should a "minimum" be established?
Do you separate the college from sport?
Do you need sports colleges only?
Let's stop right here. This could go on and on. The solution is the market place.
Each student who wants to participate and get paid signs a contract. Each contract would stipulate what each side would get from the contract. It is no different from any other contract.
Of course, each student athlete might want to get an agent to look out for the athletes interest. Everything is about money. This is no different. It does make a ripple effect when you pay athletes this way though. You are essentially setting up a bidding war for the athletes. Of course, we are doing that now, just in a different way.
Let's just take an example of what a student might want in their contract. If they want to be guaranteed a 4 year contract, paid a certain amount of money (say 50,000 a year above and beyond the schooling fee), the school would require them to maintain a certain GPA and minimum class limit of 12 credit hours per semester.
Of course, this is just a small example. The school and athlete could essentially put anything in the contract they want, within the law. Anyone breaking the contract could be dealt with accordingly. You could even set up something through the NCAA to monitor complaints and deal with them accordingly.
Separate from that would be paying the student athlete for using their name. Of course, the details would have to be worked out. That is never easy. However, it is like that outside of academia, so should it be inside the school system.
All of the above would be monitored by the grand-daddy of all watchdogs....the I.R.S. Remember, everything so far would be in a contract of some type. They will know if you are getting paid and how much. So if some booster wants to try to slip the student some extra something something, the student will be on the hook for that. If that is not a deterrent, then I don't know what is. Messing around with the I.R.S. is not smart.
There would be all sorts of cottage industries set up to help with all areas in matters of contracts, compliance, domestic issues, personal assistants, etc. It is restricted only by your imagination. After all, we will have millions of students getting paid and they will need help with things. If the students are smart, they would get someone to set an allowance for them and do all the taxes for them.
These answers are not all inclusive, for sure. There are many ways that athletes that go to school could be paid. The devil is in the details. There have been many articles written giving the pros and cons of paying student athletes. Some are against it. Maybe you. I happen to be for it. I think that the "money people" don't want to pay athletes. For numerous reasons. But mostly because they are greedy.
I am not a detail person. I am a big picture kind of guy. I let others fill in the details. So these examples I have included might not work. The point is: Students are being exploited, monetarily. Sure, within the current system, they do get school paid. But it is peanuts compared to the rewards the schools get for their participation.
And it is scary doing things different. But I think it is the right thing to do.
So put your brain in gear and give me your thoughts and ideas on paying the student athletes right out of high school. Are you for paying them? Sound off......it will make you feel better.
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