This story is ridiculous. I am sick of everyone trying to get kids in trouble for accepting money from others. Colleges are allowed to make as much money as they want off of these kids but they are not allowed to make money. OJ Mayo could have been making millions of dollars playing in the NBA right now but because the NBA decided that he's not ready USC gets to make a ton of money off the star recruit. The only people who get screwed in this deal are the athletes. They are used and exploited by colleges who want to make money off the athletes but won't let the athletes make money off of themselves. Regular college students are allowed to make money so they can better themselves, but why can't student athletes. It's not like they are going to stop trying hard at basketball. This is not affecting anything except instead of the athlete making money, colleges can now for at least 1 year exploit young talented athletes who have no other choice.

I'm with you here. College basketball is a joke.

welcome to the zoo where the action is

Make money??? For what?

Athletic scholarships come as a full ride. All basics are covered for a student athlete. They have room, board, meals, books, tuition...what would any student athlete need?

Point is this, every student athlete that signs a grant-in-aid promises to NOT violate NCAA rules regarding illegal sources of income. The report said Mayo had been accepting stuff since his HS days, from a prominant USC booster.

So what you are proposing is to have colleges bid on recruits? In the name of not exploiting them?

I have no problem with colleges bidding on recruits if the recruits get the money. For colleges college basketball is a business. USC runs its basketball program like a business except it basically gets free employees. So why is it wrong for college athletes to get paid because they are employees working for USC basketball just like an accounting works for an accounting firm.

So you are wanting colleges to be minor leagues for the NFL and NBA.

Interesting

I don't want that, but it's nonsense that the NBA has created a minor league system for themselves, by making kids go to college before they go pro. Players get screwed like OJ Mayo get screwed because they basically have a year of playing basketball and if they get hurt, then they don't get to make the money, that they would have if they went straight from high school.

You seem to forget that nobody is twisting anybodys arms here. The NBA doesnt MAKE kids do anything. They tell them that they just arent ready for the pros.

The kid has a choice then. A choice he/she freely makes.

What you have evidently lost sight of is the fact that no matter what Mayo and the NBA said to each other, USC still has to follow NCAA rules. When Mayo signed his LOI, he signed promising NOT to violate his amateur standing. If the charges prove true, then he has violated his promise and USC will suffer for it.

You need to understand why the NCAA is in place for before you comment on this.

NCAA is to allow college students to participate in athletics, while at the same time making a tremendous profit off of them. This whole amateur standing is nonsense. The colleges are basically getting cheap employees and instead of paying them they are allowing them to go to school, but will not let them find ways to get extra money for themselves. What's wrong with a college athlete getting a job and making money?

You havent a clue as to what you are talking about. The NCAA is in place to make sure the star football/basketball...hell LACROSSE player doesnt get any extra benefits that isnt available to the general student body. PLAIN AND SIMPLE.

When a booster pays a player to come to his school, he is violating NCAA rules because he isnt making that same offer to the Science student.

You seem to forget...colleges were here long before the athletics were. Athletics were added as an extra curricular activity for the students. NCAA doesnt make money...not a red cent from any of them. NCAA are funded by the schools who make up their membership.

How about a $12,500/year salary per athlete. Is that a good enough salary? Well, thats what an average athlete is getting in education costs, room, board...3 squares a day.

Evidently, you didn't read that the first time I posted it.

I am shocked - SHOCKED - to find that there is gambling here.

USC is the big joke when it come to breaking the rules.