Paying College Athletes

Over the course of the past couple of years there has been a huge push to get college athletes "paid" or to increase what they are already getting. Most people don't understand what many of them are already getting. I am arguing against paying college athletes and strictly against whatever Jay Bilas says in regards this.

For football and basketball players at the division one level they are on a full scholarship.  A full "ride" pays for tuition, room and board, as well as books.  What most people don't understand is that all of these athletes get a check from the institution for each month.  The checks will vary in amount based off if the athlete lives on or off campus.  That range is $150 (roughly, that's coming from a Minnesota football player) to $950 (that's from the checks we use to hand out to the basketball players at West Virginia). This money is supposed to be used for food ($150) for the month and if it's the higher amount, it's supposed to be for housing and food.

If you want to do simple math. Housing will cost anywhere from $350 to $600 a month. Food will cost at the very most, $200 a month. That number should be much lower now that the NCAA allowed schools to give "unlimited snacks" to their athletes. Thanks Shabazz Napier. Even with that, if you are off campus you have $150 to yourself per month to do what you want with.

If the program provides "training table," which is a catered buffet for the team, then the money it costs for each meal is then taken out of their scholarship check for the month. For example, I believe eight dollars was taken out of each players' scholarship check for each meal. The basketball players at WVU would get meals four days a week.  So, $32 dollars per week was taken out.  $128 was taken out per month, so the check would be reduced from $950 to $822. If there was a game day meal (at home or on the road) the meal wouldn't be charged and the guys would get that $8 credited to their check.

After proper saving, the players should have, at a minimum, $150 per month for themselves. That's about $1,800 per year. The players are doing alright for themselves unless they are buying a bunch of crap they don't need including but not limited to fresh Jordan's, jewelry, and tattoos.

Now, most people don't know that many of these athletes qualify for some type of Pell Grant from the government.  Not all, but many of these athletes qualify for a full Pell Grant which would give them $5,500 for the year to be able to use for their schooling. So, on top of the scholarship covering everything, they are getting an additional $5,500 (could be less for some based off of family's taxes). Between their scholarship checks and the Pell Grant these athletes should have $7,000 to save at the end of the year.

But wait, there's more...

Each major conference (not sure about mid-major conferences) has a fund set up for athletes to receive a clothing allotment of $500 in order to get a few things (like a winter coat, winter hat, gloves, etc).  Not everyone is eligible for the allotment and it's similar to the Pell Grant as far as how it is given out.

On top of this I haven't mentioned the amount of gear and the crazy amount of travel these guys have. Here is the potential list of gear that an average high major D1 basketball player gets.

6 pairs of basketball shoes - $140 each - $840
4 sets of sweatsuits - $100 each - $400
2 sets of practice gear - $90 each - $180
10 pairs of socks - $15 each (Nike Elite socks are expensive) - $150
1 pair of training/running shoes - $85
4 sets of workout gear - roughly $120 total

That's $1,800 at a minimum for gear that the guys get per year. And I think I'm on the very low end for most of that gear in amount and in price.

Many top D1 programs also charter to every single away game as well as stay in extremely nice hotels. By chartering each player probably gets about $500 (minimum again) in travel. They travel at ten times a year, $5,000 per player per year.  Here is an example of the hotel that many teams stay at while traveling.  Average room cost at that particular hotel is $250 per room. Two players per room, let's just say $100 per player per night. Teams travel ten times per year, so $1,000. I still haven't mentioned conference tournament lodging and potential postseason lodging. Let's say that's another $500 per player.  I won't even mention food.  While at WVU, we had a $45 per plate BREAKFAST while in NYC for the Big East Tournament. Roughly, $6,500 is spent per athlete during a basketball season just on lodging and probably another $1,000 for food.

Most schools almost always have academic advisors, as well, team nutritionists, team psychologists, athletic trainers, doctors, and media training. These are all free to these athletes. I can't even put a number on that.

In ending, free schooling, free sports training, at a minimum $1,800 in gear, $7,500 in travel and food, free access to many things that the average college student doesn't have. And to top it all, NO STUDENT LOANS. Tell me a better gig than this.