paying college players and a new draft idea

by styrfri on May 13, 2008 9:38 AM PDT

I was just thinking. why don't we have a draft system more like baseball and really start using college ball like it was the minor leauges. draft everyone out of highschool but keep the age minimum. everyone has to go to college for a year or two and then they have the option to turn pro.

if we make it so the rookie salary scale has something to do with how many years you're in school couln't we encourage kids to stick around. say you start rookie contracts with the draft position. and then after you have been in school for two years they add on 10% three years 15% and so on. Also once you have been drafted the NBA team could cover your scholarship and some basic living expenses, say 20k a year (if you got a dorm and a meal plan already that should be plenty of cash to have a good time in college on). I know this won't happen, but what if?

their rights are already owned by teams from the time that they get into college so they will be assured that they will get an nba paycheck someday. And those kids who develop in college but went drafted out of highschool can be drafted over the next few years. we could also add a rule that limits the number of NBA players per team, similar to limiting scholarships. I don't want to totaly destroy the duke programs of the world but it would be nice if more teams had a featured player.

I also think that this would bring a lot more interest and excitement to the college game. suddenly those of us who only watch the tourniment would have a real reason to watch a lot more college ball.

what do you think?

I know this won't happen, but I think that it would make a lot more sense than what we have right now. it might keep most kids in school a little longer, compensate them better and bring excitement to the college game. it would be better from both a ncaa and nba perspective as they would finally be really working together, and all of the money changing hands would be above board. maybe we can lessen the incentive for these student-athletes to take money from agents if they already have a guaranteed nba contract.

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Have you heard of the USC club sandwich?

It’s free, but the mayo costs $30,000.

by MiledAnimal on May 13, 2008 9:52 AM PDT 1 recs

Quote of the week material

It's a WAR, and we're bringin' the BOOM!

by prezofdeath on May 13, 2008 10:40 AM PDT up 0 recs

It's an interesting idea...

NBA gms would hate it, as recuiting kids out of high school is incredibly hit or miss. The agent/runner world would become that much worse as well, as they would approach a lot this kids in kindergarten (okay, exaggerating, but only a little). As a fan, it sounds fun. I like the idea of rooting for a future Blazer still in the college ranks. That being said, this could also fit under the “not gonna happen” list.

by The Graduate on May 13, 2008 9:57 AM PDT 0 recs

I think

someone on 1080 the fan touched on this last night but used hocky as a reference. I personaly think It is a good Idea and it may be hit or miss, but just like the euro leauge we could draft the rights to a person but that wouldn’t mean we would have to add them to the roster if they didn’t pan out right?

"The next day in practice, if you sweat, it's going to come out of your pores, regardless. If you ask any coach around the league how many times they have smelled liquor on a player . . . As long as that player is showing up on time, doing the drills and running, that's part of it. But there have been times, yeah. Yeah, you probably smelled liquor on me. But it's not like I'm at practice drunk. I'm totally focused."
-Darius Miles

by Steve Guttenberg on May 13, 2008 10:36 AM PDT 0 recs

Agreed, not gonna happen

Allowing the NBA to infiltrate the NCAA (even if providing scholarships) would seriously hurt the foundation that the NCAA bases its athletics on. Covering living expenses is going to open up the door to paying players. This will benefit basketball, baseball and football (maybe hockey on the east coast), but any “minor” sport such as swimming or volleyball are going to suffer huge cutbacks.

Regardless of the viability of this, it does pose an interesting question. I think NBA teams should have the right to draft whom they chose after the athlete is 18 and of legal age. A better solution, if you are going to reach for the baseball analogy, is to make the NBA D-League more relevant. Or even use something like an Euro-NBA to develop draft picks. Should a player enter the draft and want to opt to go to college opposed to the D-League I could see the NBA team forking out funds for an ACADEMIC scholarship for the player to let them develop.

Making the NCAA a new NBA D-League is not the answer, if you want a development program through the NBA the D-League is your best bet. I would love to make NCAA Men’s basketball more exciting and relevant throughout the college season for more casual fans, but this would hurt too many other athletes for it to ever work. Being a swimmer in college seeing Men’s swimming programs die across the nation because of Title 9 and huge football / basketball programs, I could never support the NCAA being used in this fashion.

Blazermania: back and better than ever

by CMCWizard on May 13, 2008 11:47 AM PDT 0 recs

At first blush it's seems an improvement

I haven’t thought through all the ramifications but at first blush, with a few tweaks, I think it could be an improvement. I’m not sold on them having guaranteed contracts or guaranteed money and I think you’d have to cast a wider net, allowing teams to have the rights to many more players per year to cover the ones that don’t pan out.

But if you had NBA teams covering college expenses and providing a lifestyle similar to kids who have well off parents while they stay in school and maintain reasonable progress toward a degree? I can see that as a good thing. I’d also want to see some sort of an insurance policy against career damaging injury.

But as I think of it, it would shift the balance of power on the college team. Would the coach be able to “blackmail” the kid, threatening to suspend him, cut him, not play him unless he did X, Y, or Z lest he lose his meal ticket? Would the sponsoring NBA team have any influence over the kid’s development as MLB does with it’s minor league teams?

I think there is a natural conflict between the amateur college ideal and the high stakes financial reality that is not resolvable.

by LaughingJon on May 13, 2008 12:26 PM PDT 0 recs

i like

your bonus for staying in school…but thats about it. college players should not get paid…they are supposed to be there to get an education…not as a training ground for the pros. if you are going to pay fb, bb, and baseball players who are going to pay the female players? whose going to pay the wrestlers?

college tuition is already thru the roof and rising on an annual basis, and the athletic dollars do help subsidize the costs of programs that do not generate revenue. my first year at PSU was about 1100 dollars and now i’ve paid 1700 not including all the fees and textbooks and what not. those kids are going to make their money sooner or later, and fans will be paying for their salary when they are pros. there is no way i want college students, and tax payers to subsidize their pay while they are in school.

if they want to get paid, then go to the pros.

by Philthyanimal on May 13, 2008 6:47 PM PDT 0 recs

I look at it differently

People go to college to get an education or to train for their future job. Even crappy athletes can train to be a coach. They should all be paid about $30,000 a year. If they are a serious athlete, they don’t have the time to get a part time job. They should be practicing.

"Reality is for people who can't handle Blazers Edge." - MiledAnimal

by tominhawaii on May 13, 2008 8:35 PM PDT up 0 recs

well if

you wanna call it training…think of it as an unpaid internship…except here all your expenses are paid and you don’t need a full time wage. your meals are paid for, your tuition, and your lodging. you live on campus so essentially you dont need a car.

if you are going to pay athletes 30,000 a year you might as well pay med students that as well so they dont have to get jobs or hustle las vegas for 4 million (as in 21).

by Philthyanimal on May 13, 2008 9:09 PM PDT up 0 recs