College Basketball Thread 2018

No, that'd be collusion.

We could say the NCAA colludes, I guess, but it's not a free market. It really isn't. I mean, Title IX tells us that much.

While there is a WNBA, it could disappear tomorrow and not violate any laws. You're not cutting women's basketball at, say, Wake Forest for lack of fan interest. Every women's basketball program not named Connecticut loses lots of money. They're around in part because of Title IX.

So the NCAA, governed by the rules of higher education institutions, isn't a free market.

 

I know the NCAA is not a free market because among other reasons they collude. The NCAA colluded before Title IX came into existence and they collude today.

I am not sure what the existence of Title IX has to do with the above facts. Every large organization in the country faces costs from governments regulations. I don't see why the athletes have to bear ordinate portion of those costs by playing for no compensation when coaches and administrators make millions at the most prominent schools.

 

They are compensated via their scholarship, plus a cost of living stipend.

What’s more, the compensation must be equal across men’s and women’s sports.

If you’re talking about name/image/likeness, well, I get that, but there isn’t anything preventing Nike from giving Williamson a contract right now. Nor is there anything preventing Williamson from taking it. Playing in the NCAA is not compulsory and never has been.

 

Working for the NCAA isn't compulsory, yet if I recall correctly, they've lost a couple times in court trying to keep wages down.

In the end, it's kind of silly. Someone somewhere wants to pay someone to play for a school. But they can't, because all money must route through the school. I can buy shit for the players, as long as I buy it through the school, making sure the school get a cut.

Now the schools get to control that as a gatekeeper (sort of). I don't know if it's a monopoly. They have control over the vast, vast majority of people willing to give money to players to play basketball or football.

 

Just let the players control their name. Let them make money off of it. If the university can sign an endorsement deal why can’t the player? None of these things means the University has to pay the player, it means they don’t own them.

 

Players control their name now. Zion Willlamson could sign a Nike contract tomorrow. His duke career would simply be over. But so what?

 

This is bullshit and you damn well know it.

 

The NCAA is not a free market. But there is a competition for basketball players that has many of the elements of a market. Schools compete for players. They hire the most effective coaches and build the luxurious training facilities they can afford. So Louisville hired Rick Pitino for something like seven million dollars a year because he is an excellent coach. Louisville was able to pay Pitino this salary despite the costs of complying with Title IX. Why is Rick Pitino a good coach? In large part because he can recruit talented players.

When the Louisville player, Kevin Ware, broke his leg in an Elite Eight game against Duke he was playing for room, board, a stipend and whatever he got under the table. Kevin Ware left eventually left Louisville in a "mutual decision".

If college players were allowed to receive money then Kevin Ware would have been getting some compensation. He was not a star player but if you are a rotation players at national powerhouse you are one of the best 18-21 basketball players in the country.

Teams would compete by trying to pay more money. Some schools would be able to afford better players (that is basically how it works now). Schools could reallocate resources from coaches salaries to pay players. So coaches liek Pitino could only make three million dollars a year and his players could make on average $300,000 a year or so. What would the harm of that be? THe people who came to the Duke_Louisvill Elite Eight came to watch the palyers. Attendance and ratings would have been far lower for a Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski one on one matchup.

What about school that are not basketball powerhouse? The basketball coach at one of my alma mater is Tad Boyle of Colorado. He is an excellent coach and makes 1.5 million dollars or so a year. Colorado could cut his salary by half and to 1.5 million dollars a year and the players at Colorado could make 60 thousand or so on average.

Why the hell should this not be allowed? Because athletes like Kevin Ware have scholarships pulled all the time if they get hurt. Let those kids get a cut.

 

I can’t wait for more agents, drugs and money to be influencing 18-22 year olds. Scott Boras on campus!

 

Why should he have to give up one to accept the other?

The NCAA also insists players should be treated like any other student. Well, any other student doesn’t lose the right to their likeness if they participate in one of the college’s extracurricular activities.

 

I've used this example before, but it bears repeating. My freshman class at Wesleyan had four top recruits and a very fine string quartet they were, too. They played paid gigs as musicians. They gave music lessons for money. They also performed under the university label. No problems for anyone involved. Why is sports so different. Short answer, there's more money in sports, and colleges and universities are very greedy entities.

 

Money is the root of all evil.