Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

According to Fair and Foul, Big time college sports are a contradiction because they severely compromise academic integrity. Schools spend more money on scholarships for athletes than they do for financial aid for scholars. Education of inadequately prepared athletes is a daunting task as athletes in big time sports programs are more than 200 points behind the average student on SATs. The higher ranked the school, the lower the grades and academic standards for athletes. 30-40% of athletes are allowed to be let in at a lower academic standard. Different admission standards for students vs. student-athletes. The Alabama Coach even admits that these young men are 'athlete-students' as opposed to 'student-athletes.' The overarching contradiction is that we have organized a commercial entertainment activity within an educational environment, and in the process we have compromised educational goals. 

However, some would argue that compromising these educational goals for a small percentage of students is worth it since these students in turn, benefit the university tremendously in other ways. College football and basketball are a big business and if universities want to stay relevant they must rise to the occasion and compete. Since they cannot do this without their athletes, I believe that athletes are one of, if not THE biggest asset a Division I university has. For that reason, I believe that college athletes should be paid.

The Time Article - Is itTime to Pay College Athletes?  asks why a player worth so much to his school, town, and college football brand shouldn't be able to sell his autograph for money just like any other celebrity? -- regarding Johnny Manziel. Adrien Peterson also added a comment where he said he cant believe college athletes still can’t sell their autographs for money, or make any money for their performance in college football. NFL rules prohibit players like Manziel from going to the NFL, so instead these players continue to make more money for the university, and none for themselves.  If college football operated under the same business model as the NFL, college football players could make up to $225,000 each per year. However, the only money they make is that of their scholarship -- which is revokable if they don’t perform well on the field. The money instead goes to the university or college town. Football season brings in $86 million/ year and Texas A&M. 

We have this socially constructed notion that college athletes shouldn't be paid, but why? Because that's how it's always been? I challenge that. 

I agree with Taylor Branch in the article The Shame of College Sports that players are exploited and treated as if they are apart of a slave system in a league filled with scandal. Players with immense talent drive millions of dollars into college towns and their respective universities and do not get paid simply because college presidents, athletic directors, and the NCAA decided they would rather keep the money for themselves. I believe that the athlete is the most valuable asset a college has. There are countless instances of an increase in applications after a school has a good football or basketball season. Athletics have the ability to endlessly better an institution in a positive way. 

As the Alabama coach said, athletes are 'athlete-students' who have reported spending twice as much time on athletics than school. We need to stop kidding ourselves that these athletes are at universities to focus mainly on school. I think it's great that athletes have the opportunity to get an education while attending these universities -- except this is not the reason they got into the school, and it's not the main thing they are looking to get out of the school. Not all college athletes will make it to the NFL or NBA, and for those who don't an education is certainly useful. But for the four years they are representing the university, driving in money, sacrificing their body, and passing up other opportunities to compete in sports, I believe they should be paid. A scholarship that can be revoked is simply not enough.