The NCAA Tournament is so exciting because of the games being played on and off the court. The ones on the court are unpredictable, but so is the one being played by NCAA overseers off the court. I’m talking about the game of whether or not college athletes should be paid for their work during the season. This topic seems to come up every year, and the answer should always be the same — no!
No way should college athletes be paid to play; they are students first and then athletes. Those who actually take school seriously have the chance to get a good education, even if it takes extra work to focus on class when they’re done with games and practices.
Getting paid to play at college would further damage the reputation of the collegiate sports, because it would encourage high school students to seek sports scholarships just for the sake of seeing a paycheck a little earlier. The only athletes who should be paid are professionals who have accepted the game as their short-term career.
Earl Marton
Logan