Our family has benefited from the system of D1 athletics, both Ivy and non-Ivy.
Yet I am aware that college athletics in the US is the sole exception, far from the rule, internationally. College age athletes in other countries participate in club sports, not affiliated with their institution of higher learning. (Cambridge-Oxford rowing may be a distinction, not sure of the official status of that)
I can see arguments on both sides. The US model is the outlier here, and clearly other models can produce positive results.