College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

For many years there has been a huge discussion on whether college athletes should be paid. John Thelin wrote an article called “Here’s Why We Shouldn’t Pay College Athletes,” stating his reasons on why he believes that athletes should not be paid. He gives a general example explaining how the tax system would impact the players base salary of $100,000. After all taxes are taken into account, he states that the athlete would make about $65,100. He then compares this to the fact that many out of state all-star players receive scholarships to private institutions for about $65,000. With his example he comes to a conclusion that the athlete would only make $100, after paying for taxes and school fees, and says that the scholarship method is not so bad after all. Using $100,000 is just an example for a possible star athlete, and not all athletes may be worth that much, so he states that it is better for college institutions and the players themselves to continue to work with the scholarship method. Taking his points into consideration, he fails to take into account that colleges can pay for the athlete and their college fees as well.
Many five star recruits coming out of high school are highly likely to become stars in the future and bring success to the college they select to play for. It is only right to pay the player for the work they have done because they would not receive as much attention and support if it was not for that player. For example, when Lonzo Ball was attending UCLA, the media broke out with him becoming an all-star as he continues his career into the NBA. The school received a tremendous amount of recognition that it usually would. Before Lonzo, UCLA was rarely ever mentioned during the college basketball scene. It was because of one player they were brought into the spotlight and now they have brought stars such as LiAngelo Ball and Jaylen Hands to play for them. Without Lonzo the school would not be nearly as famous as they are and they should compensate Lonzo for that. The article also lacks the fact that these college athletes are not allowed to make money outside of being paid by the college. It does not recognize that athletes such as LaMelo Ball, who has become a sensation as a sixteen year old, and has his own signature shoe. Due to the fact of him having his own shoe, he may be ineligible to play because he makes money by promoting his name on a shoe. These athletes are not even allowed to sell their jerseys or become sponsored with a company as they attend school. The fact that players can not make money by promoting their name and bringing the school they represent fame is outrageous.
Without these star players the colleges would not be making as much money or have as much attention. The players deserve to be paid for what they have done for them, and it does not have to a multi-million dollar deal. There are many options for the colleges to compensate their players outside of the scholarship method. Even if they were able to have sponsors and make money outside of the NCAA would help them financially. What does the players dealing with another company outside of the NCAA have to affect them with? Nothing, they just do not want the players to be apart of something besides the NCAA. This is completely wrong and the players deserve to be paid for what they bring to the fans everyday and the
college. When anyone turns on their television and starts to watch a college football, basketball, soccer, etc. game they recognize the players that are on that team. Even if they do not support that team, they still recognize the player and the school. The college athletes are what make these athletic departments successful with the recognition they bring. LeBron James is a worldwide know athlete and was being talked about right as he started high school. Scouts and news reporters were filling the stands anywhere he played and he gained a tremendous amount of attention. He was more recognized than many professional athletes during that time. With all this attention, he decided not to go to college and went straight to the NBA out of high school. Imagine if Ohio State University, which is the college LeBron would have attended if he had too, offered him a multi-million dollar deal to play for them. He might have made more money going that way and the university would benefit off of that tremendously. All these upcoming stars have a huge following, and bring that all to the college they decide to attend. Rules have been put into play that force them to attend at least one year of college and then go onto the professional level. Most of the athletes leave because they make money when they are onto the pros, but imagine if the university offered them money and that intrigued them to stay. That would benefit both the player and the university, so why do they not start doing that?