https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/t ... all-league

Very very interesting concept and business plan. The G5 schools would be fools to not look into it.

The biggest drawback I see is that, if they do it, basketball will be their only sport. The NCAA will declare all their other sports ineligible.

That's all well and good, but why would this even be tied to colleges / universities? This is effectively another "minor league" for basketball. Maybe the tie to universities would allow for an education component (which is good) but I can see the enforcement of academic standards being a major problem. I'm old school so I still like the "idea" of amateurism in college athletics although I understand the needs of the student athletes and the inequities that exist. I'm just not convinced this is the answer.

Yosef84 wrote:That's all well and good, but why would this even be tied to colleges / universities? This is effectively another "minor league" for basketball. Maybe the tie to universities would allow for an education component (which is good) but I can see the enforcement of academic standards being a major problem. I'm old school so I still like the "idea" of amateurism in college athletics although I understand the needs of the student athletes and the inequities that exist. I'm just not convinced this is the answer.

Amen to your last two sentences.

I get liking the idea of amateurism, I'm sure we all do, but the reality is the NCAA stopped being amateurism a long long long time ago. Time to stop treating the kids as such just to stuff the pockets of the old guys sitting on their butts in the press boxes on gamedays.

And you don't think there's already a problem enforcing academics? Look at the school in Chapel Hill. There's plenty of more out there that haven't got caught.

It's a very broken system that ONLY props up the P5 schools. Ignoring that it's broken just because of the facade of amateurism only props those P5 schools up further and deepens the divide between G5 and P5.

I really hope the HBCUs can find a few investors to get this going.

Yes, Yosef10....those are the "inequities" that I mentioned in my reply. Nobody is saying there aren't problems with the current system. Let's not start building strawmen to attack here. It just seems that this approach would create problems (academic enforcement) that dwarf the current issues...even those ridiculous cheaters in Chapel Hill. The existence of problems with the current system doesn't necessarily justify throwing the whole thing out the window. I personally don't think it is the role of the University systems to create a farm program for the professional leagues. We all know that is what has happened already, but this proposal takes it to a whole new level.

I actually think this would make the HBCU very wealthy and completely disrupt the "power" of college basketball. Imagine if they did the same thing to football, which would be a smarter move since kids are required 3 years out of school before turning pro. Costs would be significantly higher based on size of team and equipment needs but the tv deal could be large as well. The NCAA and the Power 5 would have a fit.

Yosef84 wrote:Yes, Yosef10....those are the "inequities" that I mentioned in my reply. Nobody is saying there aren't problems with the current system. Let's not start building strawmen to attack here. It just seems that this approach would create problems (academic enforcement) that dwarf the current issues...even those ridiculous cheaters in Chapel Hill. The existence of problems with the current system doesn't necessarily justify throwing the whole thing out the window.I personally don't think it is the role of the University systems to create a farm program for the professional leagues. We all know that is what has happened already, but this proposal takes it to a whole new level.

True.

Yosef84 wrote:Yes, Yosef10....those are the "inequities" that I mentioned in my reply. Nobody is saying there aren't problems with the current system. Let's not start building strawmen to attack here. It just seems that this approach would create problems (academic enforcement) that dwarf the current issues...even those ridiculous cheaters in Chapel Hill. The existence of problems with the current system doesn't necessarily justify throwing the whole thing out the window. I personally don't think it is the role of the University systems to create a farm program for the professional leagues. We all know that is what has happened already, but this proposal takes it to a whole new level.

How is that strawman? And how was it an "attack"? It was a direct response to your worry of academics not being enforced, as if they are actually enforced now in big time college football.

How would having full time students (as it explicitly stated in the model) who play sports for a wage create academic problems that aren't already existent? What changes? The fact they have some deserved cash in their account?

And I hate tell ya but the "university system" already created a farm league for the NBA and NFL, and the man who helped create it (Walter Byers) admitted it himself...it's called the NCAA.

Yosef10 wrote:

Yosef84 wrote:Yes, Yosef10....those are the "inequities" that I mentioned in my reply. Nobody is saying there aren't problems with the current system. Let's not start building strawmen to attack here. It just seems that this approach would create problems (academic enforcement) that dwarf the current issues...even those ridiculous cheaters in Chapel Hill. The existence of problems with the current system doesn't necessarily justify throwing the whole thing out the window. I personally don't think it is the role of the University systems to create a farm program for the professional leagues. We all know that is what has happened already, but this proposal takes it to a whole new level.

How is that strawman? And how was it an "attack"? It was a direct response to your worry of academics not being enforced, as if they are actually enforced now in big time college football.

How would having full time students (as it explicitly stated in the model) who play sports for a wage create academic problems that aren't already existent? What changes? The fact they have some deserved cash in their account?

And I hate tell ya but the "university system" already created a farm league for the NBA and NFL, and the man who helped create it (Walter Byers) admitted it himself...it's called the NCAA.

It turns student athletes into professional athletes. They should be one or the other, not both.

Yosef10 wrote:

Yosef84 wrote:Yes, Yosef10....those are the "inequities" that I mentioned in my reply. Nobody is saying there aren't problems with the current system. Let's not start building strawmen to attack here. It just seems that this approach would create problems (academic enforcement) that dwarf the current issues...even those ridiculous cheaters in Chapel Hill. The existence of problems with the current system doesn't necessarily justify throwing the whole thing out the window. I personally don't think it is the role of the University systems to create a farm program for the professional leagues. We all know that is what has happened already, but this proposal takes it to a whole new level.

How is that strawman? And how was it an "attack"? It was a direct response to your worry of academics not being enforced, as if they are actually enforced now in big time college football.

How would having full time students (as it explicitly stated in the model) who play sports for a wage create academic problems that aren't already existent? What changes? The fact they have some deserved cash in their account?

And I hate tell ya but the "university system" already created a farm league for the NBA and NFL, and the man who helped create it (Walter Byers) admitted it himself...it's called the NCAA.

1) Creating a "strawman" involves taking a simple statement and expanding it to an extreme conclusion in order to make the opposing position seem ridiculous and easier to dismiss. My statement about this program causing problems for academic enforcement is a legitimate concern. You extrapolate that to imply that I believe there are NO current problem with academic enforcement which is a ridiculous statement. I obviously never said that.

2) The proposal goes beyond paying the student athletes. It provides changes to the rules related to transfers, eligibility for draft, etc. and other areas currently monitored via APR calculations (a primary tools used for academic monitoring and enforcement). Softening requirements in these areas removes the teeth from a University's ability to enforcement academic standards.

3) You're absolutely right that Universities are already a farm program for professional sports. I stated this in my original comment as well. I simply believe this is NOT the role that needs to be expanded. College athletics should be for STUDENT athletes, PERIOD. It is unfortunate that they have become farm programs but the answer isn't to go further in that direction. Baseball has a Minor League that feeds the Majors. That system works pretty well! Some college athletes get drafted but the University system is not the only path to the Majors. Other sports should have that model as well. Basketball has a development league, but it's not all that well developed. Football has no meaningful option.

You're entitled to believe this is a great idea if you want. From a business / revenue generation perspective, it could work (assuming they can come up with the funding to get through the start up years until it reached "critical mass"). I just don't believe this type of model is reflective of what college sports should be about.