Shame On 'Smart' Leaders

My, my this college education is expensive. I have one grandson that has a $42,000.00 annual college cost and three other grandchildren running a close cost race behind. I recall a few years ago when a granddaughter graduated from the U of I with a four-year total cost of $130,000.00.  I remember how stressed she was when applying to the U of I even though, she had a 4.0 GPA and a 31 ACT score. She feared her grades and scores were NOT going to be good enough for admission. I coached several Division I basketball players who scored below 18 on the ACT and had perhaps a 'C-' average; oh, they were required to take a pre-entry 'Bridge Course Program.' I suppose the thinking is, a marginal academic high school student can be 'ready' for higher learning institutions if the all-America player engages a six-weeks summer academic-cram-course.

Each spring hundreds of thousands of high school students fall short of admission to prestigious universities due to grades and/or test scores while thousands of athletes, with sub-par grades and scores, get a fully paid education at those same institutions; all because of athletic skills.  If the university sport team advances deep into post-season playoffs, the university makes millions off gate receipts, conference shares and television revenue monies. The irony of this transparent and irreverent arrangement should be disturbing to any organization and leader with the smallest of moral compasses. It is a bogus scam and swindle of the non-athletic collegian.

Many of these 'super' athletes never finish school but sign lucrative professional contracts. Other athletes fall short of the pro-payday and fail to graduate. The smart (non-athletic student) gets no financial help but pays the bulk of college overhead with their tuition and fees. I can guarantee you that the Duke University professor in research medicine is making much less than some head coaches and the  chairpersons at Kansas University fall short of many coaches monthly check figures.

I understand the constitutional rights of a college athlete 'leaving' school early for that 'big' money deal. I do believe there should be in place the constitutional rights of Jack & Jill (average student) who bears the greater financial burden. I believe that an NCAA rule  should be initiated requiring any athlete who signs a professional contract early, must be responsible for the 'financial-return' of all scholarship monies spent before leaving college. These 'returned' monies could help reduce the tuition cost for the kid who never dances in the end zone or butchers the Kings English in a post-game nationally televised interview.

Perhaps the return of educational money by the early departed student-athlete turned pro could establish a annual raffle drawing for all students facing heavy loan pay backs. We could call this the Professional Intercollegiate Sport Service Education Document. In the future, we would reference the program by the acronym,  'Pissed'.