Discuss Solutions For Players taking Illegal Incentives

[Walker]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22579359/stan-van-gundy-shreds-ncaa-one-done-rule

In the link above Stan Van Gundy gives his two cents and I think he brings up some great points. He says the NCAA is probably the most corrupt organization in all of sports, and with disparity in how schools are treated and punished, I think he's right on the money.

Van Gundy is also a proponent for getting rid of the 1 and done rule in basketball, in all sports really and brings up how collegiate sports, basketball and football in particular are artificially preventing individuals from using and profiting from their skills in the market place. He believes a lot of the motives are racist in nature, and he brings up the fact that 18 year olds that play baseball and hockey can immediately go earn money in the market place in the NHL and MLB (sports that are majority white) while the in football and basketball (sports that are majority black) can't.

While I think he brings up a great argument, I hesitate to think that racism is the motivating factor in why this is the way it is and I think it's an intellectually lazy and dangerous claim. I think it has everything to do about money. Football and basketball are the biggest money generators, especially for collegiate sports. I could be totally off here, but I think the NCAA has really conspired with the NBA and NFL to have their stupid rules that prevent high schoolers from immediately going pro, that way they can force talented athletes into the NCAA money making gravy train for at least a year so they have talent to keep ratings up and the NBA and NFL don't have to bother with forming legitimate minor leagues or developmental farm systems.

The NCAA can play stupid, but it's just common sense that artificially preventing people from being able to make money with their talents is only going to create a black market underworld. They've known this for the longest time but have turned a blind eye to it to keep the big name schools happy and to keep the gravy train rolling as others on here have stated. Every now and again they'll choose a sacrificial lamb like an SMU for slaughter to make everyone think they're pillars of integrity when we all know it's a joke by now.

If professional sports dropped their age requirements it wouldn't be an end all cure, but it would be a big start. Let the ones that have the talent to go earn money immediately, go earn money and let the ones that want to be student-athletes, who see the tremendous value of earning a degree while playing a sport they love, do that. If they can develop into a pro by the end of it, super.

[Aargh]

Here's a question I'd like to have answered, but I'm afraid I may not like the answer.

Why would an agent slip a HS grad $100K in order to get him as a client and then send that kid to a college instead of sending him to Euro ball, where the agent could get an immediate return on his investment?

Perhaps that player's value is increased in the NBA marketplace by being seen on TV for one year in college? That would be one explanation. The other possibility is that the agent is getting more money from the college than he would get from commissions for a year of Euro ball.

[jdshock]

It's certainly a possibility, but Europe is a pretty big gamble. I think most people believe the players who have skipped college to go to Europe have generally hurt their draft stock. Here, it's easy to get scouted, you don't have to be a trans-Atlantic flight away from your family, and you can remain a household name. If you've watched Sportscenter this year, you've probably seen a lot more Deandre Ayton and Jaren Jackson Jr. highlights than you have Luka Doncic.

[pinstripers]

Mandatory jail time is the only way to make it stop and that's never gonna happen.

[pogo]

Yeah that mandatory jail time mentality has worked well to stamp out all other crime.

[Walker]

Here's a question I'd like to have answered, but I'm afraid I may not like the answer.

Why would an agent slip a HS grad $100K in order to get him as a client and then send that kid to a college instead of sending him to Euro ball, where the agent could get an immediate return on his investment?

Perhaps that player's value is increased in the NBA marketplace by being seen on TV for one year in college? That would be one explanation. The other possibility is that the agent is getting more money from the college than he would get from commissions for a year of Euro ball.

I certainly think that is a really good possibility, and from a visibility standpoint, I imagine endorsement deals are more plentiful when more eyeballs are on a player that is in the North American market as well. Then I would assume the level of coaching and competition for most part is much lower abroad and this too probably deters players and agents seeking this route if they thought it would hinder player development which would hinder earning potential.

[Dan]

There's a possibility that these "handlers" or "agents" or whatever they call themselves are taking the $100k from the school and only giving a small portion of it to the student or his family. This is their commission for steering the players.

[Walker]

Oh definitely. It seems like its all an ecosystem created by the NCAA, big name schools, agents, shoe/apparel companies, AAU circuit to where everybody is raking in the cheese because there's really not much of a risk if you are the right school. Then to cover tracks, the NCAA puts on a good show with it's selective outrage just to maintain enough plausible deniability along with a media not competent enough (or maybe just compliant) to go after the disease rather than just the symptoms.

[proshox]

All of the suggested answers are very complicated and most don’t actually solve the problem. For me, just delete all rules about income.

When I was a college student, i had various odd jobs. Many over paid me vs. other jobs because i was a student trying to make ends meet. Not once did anybody care. I am not sure why anybody cares....

[1972Shocker]

When you have as much money sloshing around an activity as their is in college basketball then it comes down to how you are incentivised.

If you can work your way up to a head coaching job paying multi-millions of dollars per year that is dependent on bringing in very highly talented teenagers many from low-income backgrounds then you don't have to get away with cheating for very many years to make the gig quite rewarding. And if you don't win, and win big and win consistently, you don't get these jobs.

Right now the financial incentives for coach's at big-time programs is to do whatever it takes to maintain the gravy train.

The problem is that with so many parties wanting to be associated with a big winner amd grab the biggest piece of pies that they can (NCAA, School Presidents, Fans and Boosters, Coaches, Media Compnaies, Shoe Companies, Agents and in UNC's case school administrators) and many of those parties willing to take the ends justify the mean approach then good luck cleaning up the mess.

Aligning the incentives so that the easiest and best path to success (and riches) would be to follow the rules then you might solve the issue. Actually doing that will prove to be quite difficult and who knows what the end results will be.