The recent stories regarding Ohio St. head football coach Jim Tressel and the five players suspended for accepting tattoes in exchange for memorabila, in addition to the Cam Newton allegations at Auburn raises the bigger question, what can be done to eliminate problems like these while making life easier for college athletes.
A few things that need to be looked at:
1. Some believe that the NCAA should pay its athletes cash since they don't have income since they don't have time to work. This is a bad idea, the NCAA should not pay its athletes cash. Scholarship athletes already get their college tuition for free, which pays for their courses, books, and room and board (housing and food). These are all the basic essentials they need. Athletes who are not on scholarship should be given compensation by way of credit on their student cards (Akron athletes could be give money on their Zip card). This way the money has to be spent on campus, which means the money will stay at the university. Most importantly, athletes can't use the money for moral questionable transactions, such as alcohol and strippers. Also, non-power conference (BCS) schools would be required to raise tuition for their general student population to pay for athlete salaries, given that they don't generate massive revenue from their athletic programs.
2. Athletes should be allowed to profit from endorsements, provided that they are not paid until college graduation. The reasons listed above explains why athletes don't need the money while in college, however if your likeness is used in a video game, you deserve to be compensated at some point.
3. Athletes should not be allowed to take money from boosters or agents. Boosters open up the doors for athletes to be involved in gambling and point shaving (fixing games). Agents are only good for negogiating contracts with professional teams and therefore serve no purpose to college athletes.
4. If an athlete wants to sell their memorabila, they should be permitted. It's their property and they should have the right to do with it as they please. However, I do think its a stupid thing for them to do and the Ohio St. players will regret it later, especially those who don't go on to have NFL success.
