OT: OU bball chick giving back $

Submitted by MGoPacquiao on
So, you heard of that Oklahoma women's bball player offering to give back her 4 years of scholarship money because they didn't win the nat'l championship? that was Bubba Paris' daughter. takes some balls. he's gotta have a son, maybe to play PF/C or LB/DT for us...

UofM Snowboarder

April 8th, 2009 at 1:03 AM ^

Did she end up/is she going to end up in the WNBA? Athletes who make it to the 'next level' owe their U's more than just the free college, and I'm pretty sure most of them do give back at LEAST as much as their free education cost.

Tater

April 8th, 2009 at 9:51 AM ^

Quote: "Athletes who make it to the 'next level' owe their U's more than just the free college, and I'm pretty sure most of them do give back at LEAST as much as their free education cost." Athletes owe their schools nothing. On the contrary, the schools should pay the athletes for their time and the more popular ones should get a commission from all of the jersey sales with their names on them. The NCAA has used the myth of the "student-athlete" to justify shamateurism for too long now. How can you say that an athlete who spend forty hours a week working his sport to help make his school millions of dollars and has to take fluff courses to stay eligible "owes" the school anything? As for any female basketball player making the "next level," she wouldn't make as much money as a real student who was in the 99th percentile of her class. And any player making it to the "next level" of any sport can be said to be in the 99th percentile. If anything, any player making the next level should get an extended scholly that allows them to take real classes and graduate when their playing days are over.

Augger

April 8th, 2009 at 3:14 PM ^

Sorry no. Maybe its just me, but the bonuses of a free college education ($40,000-$80,000/4 years) look awful good. Not to mention all the little freebies athletes tend to get, even in non-revenue sports. And hey, how about the free tutoring, constant help, and other bonuses us regular students couldnt get if we tried. I cant stand people who say athletes should be paid, they already are! Now does an athlete owe money to the university should they make it to the next level? Not necessarily, but a little recompense would be nice if they do strike the gold mine...still I wouldnt get down on an athlete just for not giving cash back to their school. Aug '95

Augger

April 8th, 2009 at 3:14 PM ^

Sorry no. Maybe its just me, but the bonuses of a free college education ($40,000-$80,000/4 years) look awful good. Not to mention all the little freebies athletes tend to get, even in non-revenue sports. And hey, how about the free tutoring, constant help, and other bonuses us regular students couldnt get if we tried. I cant stand people who say athletes should be paid, they already are! Now does an athlete owe money to the university should they make it to the next level? Not necessarily, but a little recompense would be nice if they do strike the gold mine...still I wouldnt get down on an athlete just for not giving cash back to their school. Aug '95

Augger

April 8th, 2009 at 3:15 PM ^

Sorry no. Maybe its just me, but the bonuses of a free college education ($40,000-$80,000/4 years) look awful good. Not to mention all the little freebies athletes tend to get, even in non-revenue sports. And hey, how about the free tutoring, constant help, and other bonuses us regular students couldnt get if we tried. I cant stand people who say athletes should be paid, they already are! Now does an athlete owe money to the university should they make it to the next level? Not necessarily, but a little recompense would be nice if they do strike the gold mine...still I wouldnt get down on an athlete just for not giving cash back to their school. Aug '95

jmblue

April 8th, 2009 at 4:04 PM ^

Athletes certainly get a lot. The only sports for which you can argue that they are "exploited" are the small number (basically football, men's basketball and sometimes hockey or women's basketball) that actually generate revenue. The vast majority of college sports teams lose money, and frankly there's no real incentive to give their athletes scholarships (other than for Title IX purposes, I suppose) so athletes in those sports are getting a pretty nice deal (especially since a lot of them get to attend schools they otherwise wouldn't get into). I don't agree with the notion that they owe it to their school to pay back the money, though. It's a scholarship, not a loan.

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

April 9th, 2009 at 7:21 AM ^

Absolutely. This idea that athletes should be paid is ridiculous. They ARE getting paid. More than 99% of all college students. They get as much as $120,000 worth of scholarships. They get all the little freebies. They get free health care for cryin out loud. How do you quantify the "millions" that a student makes for a school? Should the quarterback get the same amount as a fourth-string punter? Punter isn't the one out there "making money" for a school. Should football players get more than basketball players? Should they get more than wrestlers? How do you divide that money out fairly? The burden on a non-revenue player like a gymnast or a swimmer is far greater than on a star football player. The swimmer, Michael Phelps excluded, has to take actual courses, actually go to discussion sections, attend class, and take his/her education seriously because they're not going on to make millions from swimming. So for that matter do most of the football players. Yet according to the false rationale of "the player makes the school money, so he should be paid", it would be logical that the guy taking the fluff courses and skating by with a wink from the profs should also get paid. Nonsense. Yes, the school makes a lot of money off the athletes. And you know where most of that money goes? Right back to the athletes in the form of weight rooms, special athlete dining areas, tutors, medicines, and all the other great stuff they get. Any athlete that the school really is making money from is going to get his back when he's drafted, many many times over - to demand it now instead of a year from now is just greedy given all the stuff the school gives them that no other student gets.