This will not end well

[Devilinside]

$31+ million profit in 2016 only second to Louisville's $41 million profit that year.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.bu...asketballs-biggest-money-maker-in-2016-2018-2

You are missing the point. What is important is not what the basketball program earns, but where the money goes. The money does not belong to the basketball program. It belongs to the university, which reinvests it for the benefit of the students, faculty, community, and many other worthy causes

A good portion of athletes are getting their hands on pell grants + stipend or just cost of attendance. The second option is a pretty sweet salary, based on that alone Zion made more money than I did this year. Of course he deserves a bigger pay day than an average guy like myself. The point is I didn’t struggle to put food on the table or afford necessities and I had to pay bills. Pell grants + stipend option is much lower but still around $10K total. If you aren’t paying bills (besides maybe a cell phone) what’s the need for more? So I find it hard to believe that these kids need more money to afford necessity living. In addition to all of this, there’s also a ton of other different ways to score financial aid money. On the other hand, I do feel terrible for struggling families of these athletes but we shouldn’t make the NCAA feel responsible for that.

I don’t want you to think that I completely disagree with you though, because I don’t. I have no problem with athletes making money via their own image, I’m just not sure how the NCAA would go about regulating it.

I am generally in agreement, with one important condition. They could make money if it were solely based on the player's image without any reference to Duke or any other school. Otherwise, the earnings would come primarily from the school's brand, not from the player's image, and there is no reason why the player should be able to profit, even a little, from the goodwill that it has taken the school many years to develop. If someone wants to but a t-shirt with Zion's face or action profile on it excluding any image or reference to Duke, fine with me.

 

[FearTheBeard]

People like him are the reason lawyers get a bad rep. But, it makes for some pretty funny lawyer jokes.

 

[Canadian Dukie]

People like him are the reason lawyers get a bad rep. But, it makes for some pretty funny lawyer jokes.

Whats the difference between a lawyer and a jelly fish? One is a spineless,poisonous blob,the other is a form of sea life...

 

[BeerPoisoning]

I am generally in agreement, with one important condition. They could make money if it were solely based on the player's image without any reference to Duke or any other school. Otherwise, the earnings would come primarily from the school's brand, not from the player's image, and there is no reason why the player should be able to profit, even a little, from the goodwill that it has taken the school many years to develop. If someone wants to but a t-shirt with Zion's face or action profile on it excluding any image or reference to Duke, fine with me.

These guys barely have a life outside of academics and sports though. It’s constant. Homework, class, practice, game, volunteering / charity causes, constant travel. They barely have time to rest or flick on Sports Center.

A lot of these athletes come from poverty... Let’s say there’s practice at 9am, but ‘X’ company is willing to pay $10,000 for a photo shoot (or whatever) This creates a predicament. The athlete knows mom and dad are behind on bills - Blood is thicker than water. Now the athletic program morally feels obligated to take action, but what if there’s a big upcoming game? Imagine the controversy of Duke’s choice to bench or play Zion after that.

That’s just an example of a potential problem, there’s plenty to be mentioned. I don’t disagree with you... I’m just not sure how the heck this remains “regulated”

 

[timo0402]

These guys barely have a life outside of academics and sports though. It’s constant. Homework, class, practice, game, volunteering / charity causes, constant travel. They barely have time to rest or flick on Sports Center.

A lot of these athletes come from poverty... Let’s say there’s practice at 9am, but ‘X’ company is willing to pay $10,000 for a photo shoot (or whatever) This creates a predicament. The athlete knows mom and dad are behind on bills - Blood is thicker than water. Now the athletic program morally feels obligated to take action, but what if there’s a big upcoming game? Imagine the controversy of Duke’s choice to bench or play Zion after that.

That’s just an example of a potential problem, there’s plenty to be mentioned. I don’t disagree with you... I’m just not sure how the heck this remains “regulated”

If the ncaa has corporate sponsors all over the ncaa tournament paying billions why not create a system where company A says to the ncaa we’d like to feature Zion in our commercials and are willing to pay him the max allowed by the NCAA. All funds go through them and are deposited from the ncaa directly to the player.

 

[Devilinside]

If the ncaa has corporate sponsors all over the ncaa tournament paying billions why not create a system where company A says to the ncaa we’d like to feature Zion in our commercials and are willing to pay him the max allowed by the NCAA. All funds go through them and are deposited from the ncaa directly to the player.

I do not see how making the NCAA the de facto sole agent for the players would do anything to improve the system. Besides, why even talk about it. The NCAA would never take on that role and would face an avalanche of law suits from real agents. College basketball players are amateurs and not eployees of the NCAA or of their schools.

 

[timo0402]

I do not see how making the NCAA the de facto sole agent for the players would do anything to improve the system. Besides, why even talk about it. The NCAA would never take on that role and would face an avalanche of law suits from real agents. College basketball players are amateurs and not eployees of the NCAA or of their schools.

I’m spit balling bro, relax.

 

[BeerPoisoning]

If the ncaa has corporate sponsors all over the ncaa tournament paying billions why not create a system where company A says to the ncaa we’d like to feature Zion in our commercials and are willing to pay him the max allowed by the NCAA. All funds go through them and are deposited from the ncaa directly to the player.

That’s probably the best suggestion I’ve heard so far. I’m not against that but it’d take a lot of conversation to cover the gray area. It’d introduce a whole new set of rules. The NCAA would then have to receive a cut of the payment since they’re “roleplaying” as an agent.

Personally - I hate the idea of paying athletes. Even if they deserve it, they’re still amateurs. What’s next, do we start paying high school players too? They might not have the TV fame but elite talent in those jerseys pack the stands. The high school I attended has a larger seating capacity than Cameron Indoor. Sure, prices aren’t hundreds of dollars but we’re still talking about substantially larger profits.

 

[timo0402]

That’s probably the best suggestion I’ve heard so far. I’m not against that but it’d take a lot of conversation to cover the gray area. It’d introduce a whole new set of rules. The NCAA would then have to receive a cut of the payment since they’re “roleplaying” as an agent.

Personally - I hate the idea of paying athletes. Even if they deserve it, they’re still amateurs. What’s next, do we start paying high school players too? They might not have the TV fame but elite talent in those jerseys pack the stands. The high school I attended has a larger seating capacity than Cameron Indoor. Sure, prices aren’t hundreds of dollars but we’re still talking about substantially larger profits.

It’s almost impossible to find a way to do it from 2 key standpoints.

1. Pay one pay all with the ncaa
2. If you let the schools handle it, it opens up Pandora’s box.

 

[BlueDaveil]

Sorry to resurrect a thread about this narcissistic con artist but this is the first I’ve seen him target Coach K directly in his accusations as opposed to saying “Zion was paid or targeted by Nike” or something along those lines.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...3/duke-probe-finds-no-evidence-nike-paid-zion

 

[springsportster]

Sorry to resurrect a thread about this narcissistic con artist but this is the first I’ve seen him target Coach K directly in his accusations as opposed to saying “Zion was paid or targeted by Nike” or something along those lines.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...3/duke-probe-finds-no-evidence-nike-paid-zion

Creepy porn lawyer never had any credibility and never will. It was glorious seeing him fall out of favor with the media too, lol.

 

[FearTheBeard]

This ended well.

 

[-BBH-]

It’s not over.

 

[FearTheBeard]

It’s not over.

Says the KY fan.

 

[Jnood]

It’s not over.

Are they looking into what Kentucky has obviously been doing?

 

[Mpm277]

I'm not saying we shouldn't care, but would anyone be THAT surprised if it came out that Nike paid Zion? Or any top recruit last year? Or this year? Or the year before?

Again not saying that we shouldn't care, but I don't think anyone should be surprised at this point.

.... also, I honestly just don't care that awful much.

 

[Jnood]

I'm not saying we shouldn't care, but would anyone be THAT surprised if it came out that Nike paid Zion? Or any top recruit last year? Or this year? Or the year before?

Again not saying that we shouldn't care, but I don't think anyone should be surprised at this point.

.... also, I honestly just don't care that awful much.

I could be way off, but It seems a lot like the steroid area in baseball. A lot of places were trying to do it the right way, but were at a big disadvantage, and in fear of being left behind found ways around the rules to keep up. Now, it’s just everywhere.

 

[johnl1219]

I'm not saying we shouldn't care, but would anyone be THAT surprised if it came out that Nike paid Zion? Or any top recruit last year? Or this year? Or the year before?

Again not saying that we shouldn't care, but I don't think anyone should be surprised at this point.

.... also, I honestly just don't care that awful much.

Maybe it's just me, but Duke wasn't the only school among Zion's finalists. I just have a hard time believing that only Kansas and Duke were going to order payments to Zion but non of his other finalists were.

If Zion and his family were truly asking for things or shopping Zion's services, wouldn't that come out from the other schools? I don't always defend Roy Williams, but he ran the entire race with Zion and didn't back away. I don't think Roy is ordering payments to players, so why would he not back off if Zion's parents were truly asking for these things?

That just doesn't add up for me. Kentucky fans will now argue that Calipari backs off these kids who are asking for money, but there was no backing off and there were even articles that had Kentucky in the lead for Zion.

Perhaps someone can explain that to me, how is it that only 2 schools have been said to offer payments to Zion but the other schools on his list, UNC-Kentucky-UCLA-SC-Clemson, were not being asked for the same things.

 

[Devilinside]

Maybe it's just me, but Duke wasn't the only school among Zion's finalists. I just have a hard time believing that only Kansas and Duke were going to order payments to Zion but non of his other finalists were.

If Zion and his family were truly asking for things or shopping Zion's services, wouldn't that come out from the other schools? I don't always defend Roy Williams, but he ran the entire race with Zion and didn't back away. I don't think Roy is ordering payments to players, so why would he not back off if Zion's parents were truly asking for these things?

That just doesn't add up for me. Kentucky fans will now argue that Calipari backs off these kids who are asking for money, but there was no backing off and there were even articles that had Kentucky in the lead for Zion.

Perhaps someone can explain that to me, how is it that only 2 schools have been said to offer payments to Zion but the other schools on his list, UNC-Kentucky-UCLA-SC-Clemson, were not being asked for the same things.

In fact, Clemson was thought to be the favorite right up until the time Zion committed to Duke. Honkey T can probably verify that fact.

 

[johnl1219]

In fact, Clemson was thought to be the favorite right up until the time Zion committed to Duke. Honkey T can probably verify that fact.

I did see that Clemson was the leader closer to the announcement but there were a few articles calling Kentucky the leader for Zion. Here is one of them...

https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-men/article174323026.html

That said, I'm simply asking why no other schools were said to have tried to pay Zion except for Kansas and Duke? I find that hard to believe that no other schools (If Zion's family were truly asking for things) were trying to find the money.

I don't believe that Duke paid or had Nike pay Zion and his family. I believe that Kansas and Adidas were trying to come up with a number of things to keep Zion from going to a Nike school. Few people remember that Zion played for an Adidas AAU team, so if Nike was paying him, they didn't do a great job.

 

[Devilinside]

I did see that Clemson was the leader closer to the announcement but there were a few articles calling Kentucky the leader for Zion. Here is one of them...

https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-men/article174323026.html

That said, I'm simply asking why no other schools were said to have tried to pay Zion except for Kansas and Duke? I find that hard to believe that no other schools (If Zion's family were truly asking for things) were trying to find the money.

I don't believe that Duke paid or had Nike pay Zion and his family. I believe that Kansas and Adidas were trying to come up with a number of things to keep Zion from going to a Nike school. Few people remember that Zion played for an Adidas AAU team, so if Nike was paying him, they didn't do a great job.

That is an article written in 2017, months before he signed. Also, it was on a Kentucky website.

 

[Liftee]

Frankly, I don't think Calipari or UK pays or offers to pay players. Their record of success on the court and in the draft recruit for them. Could be it was different 15 years ago but not now.

My bigger question is booster payments. I suspect a wealthy Kentucky alum (or UNX, or an SEC alum in football) would do anything to help their team win, legal or not. That's where a college can be diligent in enforcing the rules with their alumni boosters, or can look the other way. Of course, that's a lot less sexy issue than Nike's influence over college athletes and coaches.

 

[johnl1219]

That is an article written in 2017, months before he signed. Also, it was on a Kentucky website.

That is an article written in 2017, months before he signed. Also, it was on a Kentucky website.

Did you read the article? It clearly says that the National Recruiting Experts weigh in...here's an actual piece from the article:

1. Kentucky: The Wildcats were the clear No. 1 pick among the national experts. The majority of the top recruiting analysts put UK at the top of their lists, and none of the five had the Cats lower than No. 2, a great sign for John Calipari as he welcomes Williamson and his family to Lexington this weekend.

So the national experts did have Kentucky as the leader at some point, which is all I said.

 

[Devilinside]

Did you read the article? It clearly says that the National Recruiting Experts weigh in...here's an actual piece from the article:

1. Kentucky: The Wildcats were the clear No. 1 pick among the national experts. The majority of the top recruiting analysts put UK at the top of their lists, and none of the five had the Cats lower than No. 2, a great sign for John Calipari as he welcomes Williamson and his family to Lexington this weekend.

So the national experts did have Kentucky as the leader at some point, which is all I said.

You entirely miss the point. The point I was making was that there was a lot of time between that article and when he actually signed. A lot could have, and I think, did change during that period. If you have a source that addresses how he was leaning in 2018, your statement would have more credibility. From what I remember reading when he signed with Duke and not Clemson, it came as a huge surprise, at least down here.

 

[johnl1219]

You entirely miss the point. The point I was making was that there was a lot of time between that article and when he actually signed. A lot could have, and I think, did change during that period. If you have a source that addresses how he was leaning in 2018, your statement would have more credibility. From what I remember reading when he signed with Duke and not Clemson, it came as a huge surprise, at least down here.

Hey man, all I said was that at some point Kentucky was the perceived leader. I didn't say the day before he picked a school, I said at some point. I think you're missing the point or just arguing just to argue.

 

[Devilinside]

Hey man, all I said was that at some point Kentucky was the perceived leader. I didn't say the day before he picked a school, I said at some point. I think you're missing the point or just arguing just to argue.

Nope. I misread your piece. My bad.