Local opinion: Dollars, not scholars controlling college sports, and transparency needed

and analysis of the writer:

There is no joy in Mudville. The mighty Arizona Wildcats are out of the NCAA basketball tournament. In this great amateur athletic competition, the team whose best player, Cooper Flagg, earns upwards of $4 million from his hallowed educational institution, beat our poverty-stricken group who could only afford to pay the best player, Caleb Love, purportedly, a mere $800,000. That’s near the earnings of the president of the institution. I suppose it is fair that the guy who can throw a basketball into a net should be financially rewarded nearly equally to a highly educated and experienced leader who is responsible for 16,000 employees, 60,000 students and an annual budget of over $2 billion (That’s with a “B.”)

Ho-hum.

Something is wrong somewhere when kids would rather stay in college than sign with pro teams because the money is better in college. Whew.

The big news is that a top 5-star recruit just agreed to come to UA. In his list of reasons for choosing this school, he was quoted as saying … ”right situation for me”… “Tommy is a great coach” … ”winning program.”

Not a word in the story about how much money he will get. Suppose that figured into his decision?

Watching the tournament on TV these days, I feel there is something missing. Absent is the truth of why these players chose the schools that they did. In past years, it might have been tradition, family ties, or a quality education in a particular field. The announcer fails to mention that these so-called “amateurs” are being paid. Not chump change either. We’re talking about millions of dollars. An amount that just a few years ago we were complaining about how excessive it was for professional athletes in major league sports to earn that much.

I understand that “amateur” athletics have disappeared. I probably should not be using that term at all. If you get paid, you are a professional.

But let’s stop fooling ourselves and admit that it’s dollars, not scholars, controlling the system. In that case, is it too much to ask for full transparency?

I mentioned to a friend that Caleb Love purportedly earned $800,000. He laughed and said, “I heard through the grapevine it was much more.”

Well, what is it? We know how much the school president and the professors earn. Isn’t it time we knew about the athletes? Let’s see a list of all the players on the basketball and football teams and their salaries. What about baseball, tennis, golf, other sports? Do we pay them too? If we do, let’s see the list.

Then there’s the transfer portal. An athlete can switch schools at any time. A contract goes both ways. If we are paying them, why can’t we make it so they are contractually obligated to stay for 2, 3, or all 4 years?

The University of Arizona is a state school. It is not private. Therefore, like all state salaries, they should be open to public scrutiny.

As a UA graduate, fan, and supporter, it is difficult to admit that money has taken over college sports. I still want to believe that everybody does their best “for the glory of my school.” But let’s get our head out of the clouds and back to earth, back to reality. Give us the list of names and money being paid. What are we afraid of?