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Why not ban Athletic Scholarships?


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OK, I'm bored and just go a new canoe paddle to stir the pot with..... this one might really upset the apple cart since a lot of the "amateur hockey industry" is based of getting little johnny or jenny a D1 scholarship. D3 does not have athletic scholarships.... Why should D1? And with the push to pay the athletes these days, an athletic scholarship is basically compensation for their play, so why is the value of an athletic scholarship not taxable income? 

Edited by GrumpyOldPucker
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This is basically the Canadian system - no athletic scholarships. It's a big reason why the junior hockey leagues in Canada flourished as the feeder system to the pros, rather than Canadian university hockey. American college athletics is pretty entrenched but I guess if they removed D1 scholarships, you might eventually see non-academic developmental leagues become the main path to the pros for the top athletes.

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Valid point for discussion-be careful what you wish for!  Division 1 athletes getting paid, hmmm, assume the top 1% of the top 1% have enough name recognition to prosper in this environment.  Will they give some $$ to their team or the school for helping them?  We all know the answer to that question.  Eat what you kill right?  If you are getting paid why would the school give you a scholarship?  They are already providing you the platform to make money.  Maybe more importantly will this start to erode the lucrative endorsement deals of Nike, UA and other clothing and apparel manufacturers?  If that starts to happen then there will truly be transformation of the landscape as we know it.  

Eliminiating all scholarships, now kids actually decide to go to college for an education.  Novel idea...  There is big money behind college athletics until that dries up or goes somewhere else we are stuck with the low level coaches who gladly take your money promise you the world and have no idea how to deliver.  Hockey is the poster child for all of this.  Roughly 70 schools offer scholarship hockey.  25 players per team 1750 scholarships.  You can probably cut that up and push the number to 3000.  

Check this out:

85 scholarships
 
NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS)

Scholarship count: FBS programs are allowed 85 scholarships on its roster at any given time, and generally can sign up to 25 players per year. Scholarship breakdown: All 85 scholarships are full rides.  130 FBS schools out there 11,050 at the highest level.  

 

If you think your getting national exposure playing AAA Hockey for anyone without national recognition good luck.  Take your kid to the Mid-Am camp and see if they make the cut.  Golden helmets and Blue jackets rule the school.  Even if you had the talent getting past these road blocks are significant challenges.  Sure go play for a Prep School they say: $60k out the door, how many of those kids are getting one of the 3000 scholarships?  

 

Eliminating scholarships would change the dynamic of sports and attendance at all universities.  It also might eliminate the student debt problem as well.  No way this happens in my life time.

 

 

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17 minutes ago, HSFBLJ said:

Eliminiating all scholarships, now kids actually decide to go to college for an education.  Novel idea...  There is big money behind college athletics until that dries up or goes somewhere else we are stuck with the low level coaches who gladly take your money promise you the world and have no idea how to deliver.  Hockey is the poster child for all of this.  Roughly 70 schools offer scholarship hockey.  25 players per team 1750 scholarships.  You can probably cut that up and push the number to 3000. 

 

 

The math is actually worse than you show.  NCAA D1 hockey has only 18 scholarships per team.  D2 has 13.5 per team.  Average team size is a little higher.  The teams can split the money up.  I would be curious to know how many actual full rides there are.  My bet is not many.  As Covid and the RMU situation show, you better like the school.

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It’s been a few years, last time I saw there was only 1,600 ncaa d1 hockey players. Only 60% of these players were on full scholarships. 

My kids personally know a player at rmu who is not getting any athletic money. (Before all the fallout) 

Edited by Danner27
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Thanks for the intelligent and peaceful discussion.... I really think that it's got the potential to be a lose\lose situation no matter what. Face it, the money brought in by King football and Prince Basketball goes a long way towards funding a whole lot of the rest of the university budget. Take that away and a whole lot of educational programs go away (or the price goes up even further).......  

If you wanted to eliminate the scholarships entirely and start paying athletes then how do you keep them (the players) "affordable"? How about keeping them from jumping ship to another school every season? Collective bargaining? Remember it's not just football\basketball\hockey, it's EVERY SPORT...... Huge can 'o worms that would get kicked over....

 

Here's my solution - only half (or so) tongue in cheek: 

1- Players can sign whatever endorsement deals they want, but the NCAA still has contractual control over what is allowed to be displayed during any team function. 

2 - Keep the scholarships, but limit them to only the first school that the player accepts it from. If a player jumps schools they are not eligible for another athletic scholarship unless they reimburse the first school in full.

3 - Get more money for the players and schools from the gambling entities.

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