Seems like it'd be difficult to regulate which sports get paid, and which don't, or if just certain, and what about walk-ons, etc. Overall, I wouldn't blame college as a limited use, since the year here with Kevin Durant was an adventure, and brought up as much discussion as anything in the last five years outside of the 2005 football champion team on campus. Though you can also mention the fact no one on this list has been in for 1 year and left and won. For paying collegiates, I think they deserve a stipend of some sort, and they do get per diem, but not much else.
However, going to college, especially for people like Kevin Durant, gains a lot of exposure that they wouldn't get if leaving from high school (LeBron - notable exception). In America, that might help some, but I think it is to the benefit of the athlete to be in something as organized as the NCAA for a bit before upgrading. I would say a year at Texas was much better for Kevin Durant than going to the NBDL for a year. He would not have averaged 20 a game at age 19 if he went straight to the pros out of high school or spent a year in the NBDL. Still, it's interesting how easily some people can be persuaded by people waving cash.The European style for dealing with the NBA is kind of different, since they stick athletes in pro leagues early, though they often sit on the bench and wait. The agent business to me is very flawed to begin with, because, as mentioned by David Falk when talking to TrueHoop blogger Henry Abbott, the free early benefits pull in enough 'wet-behind-the-ears' kids to be worth it.
I think the agents have to start taking down themselves, and regulate themselves more. More NCAA coaches should be proactive in getting agents out of their kids' ear, often convincing them of bad decisions. Example: Jamaal Charles, entered early, under the assumption he was going to for sure be a second-round pick, the NFL legitimate draft committee said 2nd or 3rd, but his family was convinced (undoubtedly by agents and/or people who want money now) he was going round 2, and opted in. At Texas, though I have no experience with players getting paid by coaches and agents, I know that boosters has their typical influence in big-money handshakes and random deposits to bank accounts That happens everywhere.
If no one "knows" about it within the organization, then they'll do nothing about it. With Duffy, he can easily give a guy like Guillory $200,000 and say "do whatever, but I want you to help with Mayo," and that can be phrased so that he's not involved with the money issuing, and the one that is like Guillory than he can get a job elsewhere and Duffy's not affected.I don't know how anyone can control boosters, and it's hard to tell a lot of athletes, especially the poorer ones, to not accept anything free, cause a lot of them could use it for beneficial purposes, like helping to support their family. Floyd (and probably Pete Carroll with the Bush situation) could easily tell players not to tell them about anything they may receive, so they don't have to be responsible for it This is undoubtedly the same for most major schools. This concept has not been questioned, and was done in high school, thus not dealing with the NCAA at all. Who turns down free clothes anyway?Guys like Tim Floyd and Bill Duffy (the coach and agent, respectively, for the Mayo issue) make it a point not to be aware of what happens in a spoken fashion, so when they are asked, though I'm sure they are aware what probably is going on, but can say "I have no knowledge of it" since no one actually told them.
When in high school, athletes are scouted essentially by people involved in the sneaker wars as much as agents. Kevin Durant spent his entire college gear decked in Jordan Brand clothing, always matched, and always something different. I'd be surprised if they didn't come from his brand-laden AAU team that handed out tons of free outfits with the (assumption) idea he'd sign with the Jordan Brand and Nike when he turned pro, which he did. ($1=6.828 Yuan) (Reporting by Alison Leung; Editing by Ian Geoghegan) China. Having lived the life of a University of Texas student the last few years, I've noticed that even a school perceived as "squeaky clean" by the general public outside of the fun arrest run the past year for football has plenty that put Texas within the realm of every other major college.