The facts of this scandal absolutely prove these college basketball recruits had value. People would not have been willing to pay them to come play for their schools and wear their sneakers if there was not any value. And those payments are basically legal in any normal business. The only reason this thing turned criminal is because the parties had to conceal their activities to avoid violating the NCAA cartel rules. But violating NCAA rules is not a federal crime.
I’m curious – what sport did you play in college? Revenue or non-revenue? Were you a star or a bench-rider? Athletic scholarship?
I guess maybe I wasn’t clear, there is no question that a college player has/brings value, the question is what is that value in the “job market” as opposed to the college market? The answer to that question is $0 as there is no place for them to get a job in their chosen market. The players absolutely bring value to the university but that doesn’t mean they should automatically be compensated as though they were eligible to work in their chosen field, when they clearly are not eligible to work, through no fault of the university. If the players have so much value, why is there no other market for them to test other than the NFL or NBA. If each player has even several hundred thousand in value surely someone would want to create a league to steal these profits from the NCAA. Why has no one done this?
I have tried to find a “real world” parallel and it is difficult. The best I have come up with is the law student clerking over the summer. They want to be a lawyer, they are training to be a lawyer, however due to rules and employer policy they can not be treated like/perform the tasks of the lawyer. Same thing, an 18 year old football player may be able to perform all of the tasks of a professional, possibly at a higher level than current players, but does not meet the qualifications for the employer and as such must take what he can get until he meets the requirements. The NCAA provides that path, much like a law school. Granted a law student is not bringing in the same value as a football player for the school but why is that a problem.
I have a good friend that is a professor at a PAC 12 school. He is one of the most respected minds in his field and as such obtains many research grants and consulting requests. The university takes all of these grants/consulting fees and his expenses are then paid by the university and they keep the overage. I’m sure he is not unique. He is incredibly valuable to the school as he pays for himself many times over each year. Is he being exploited? Possibly but that is the job he agreed to accept and is able to test the open market any time he wishes however that tenure tether makes it a tough decision. Sounds a lot like how his university treats athletes. They give them the amount they were told they would get, keep any overages, and that player is free to test the open market whenever they would like but there is the tether of having to sit out a year (transfer) or the risk of not getting signed (NFL). Maybe this is the way academia works and the athletic approach has grown out of the academic side of things.
To answer your other questions. Non revenue, partial athletic scholarship, 4 year starter at a power 5 conference school that during my tenure was annually a top 15 team.