The Big Ball Theory

Either way, Cleveland State's getting probation.

 

The NCAA sets its work rules, so to speak. Their work rules are that all "employees" cannot get paid or have anyone benefit financially from their like ess except their school and their "employer," though some of their "employees" receive a limited type of compensation.

Now, the Balls sure as heck could challenge the whole system, and might even win. But, as someone else here said, the kid may only have been playing college hoops for a year anyways, so it's not really worth the time, effort and lawyer's fees to challenge the NCAA. Instead, they can settle for just making a mockery out of the NCAA, which is nice to see.

 

This immediately falls apart when you consider nonscholarship sports or when you drop to D2 or D3 schools. The same rules apply for Guilford College as it does for UCLA. You cannot take outside benefits that isn't a scholarship provided by the school. Period. A track and field star can't accept $20K from Nike just because he/she isn't on scholarship. That's how the NCAA works.

You.
Cannot.
Accept.
Outside.
Benefits.
At all.

Bama running back can't. A Duke forward can't. An Iowa wrestler can't. A St. John's badminton player can't.

 

Um, no, they can't. Not legally.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine was at a Cracker Barrel south of town and noticed a 'Bama running back. A guy walked up to him, they spoke briefly and then they went outside. The RB drove three different cars, and left in the one he must have liked best. Back in the day it was done with hundred dollar handshakes. Now it's prepaid Visa cards from Walmart... but it gets done.

 

I don't know if they've moved on from it, but one thing that used to happen was an agent would tell star player, go apply for a credit card at my bank. He'd be approved for a card with a high-limit and next to no interest. When player signed with agent, agent paid off the card.

 

There are lots of dodges that work fine. You can still go with that old stand-by, the high paying no show job. The trick is that instead of Enormous State's big booster giving a kid a job, he gets a buddy he can trust with no connection to the school whatsoever to hand over the envelope for him.

 

Tell me more.

 

Because I am too lazy to look it up, how do guys play minor league baseball, but are allowed to play football or basketball for good old state u? Is it because they are different sports?

 

Yep. It was made legal by the NCAA in 1972-74 or so.

 

Yet Jeremy Bloom couldn't make any money as a skier and still play football. It's almost as though NCAA rules don't always make sense.

 

Surprisingly enough, NCAA luxury boxes are always packed with plenty of judges.

 

The issue with that was that Bloom would be making money from sponsorships, and not from an official employer from a different sport.

The NCAA's rationale, for what it's worth, was that it knows that a player is getting paid to play baseball because they are actually on the team; but there's no way to guarantee that a sponsor was paying Bloom to ski instead of being a football player. You might have a booster say they're paying Bloom for his skiing, but they're actually paying him for football.

But yeah, the NCAA loves to twist itself into pretzels because heaven forbid, an athlete may be profiting instead of his school or the NCAA.