Stipends...New Can of Worms

[cloverleaf]

In January, the five major conferences voted to provide stipends to athletes to make ends meet. These are for cost above tuition, fees, books, room and board. Some schools are in the process of evaluating what they can spend, and "DOLLAR AMOUNT" will vary from school to school. For example, Missouri expects to offer athletes about $3,100 above the value of a full scholarship. Auburn on the other hand, could be as much as $6,000 with an additional $1,500 if they enroll in summer school. Nebraska around $3,600...Texas will offer between $4,000 and $5,000...Virginia Tech $2,500. ANYONE SEE A PROBLEM HERE?

There's a discrepancy in what teams will be able to offer based on how they choose to write their formulas. I don't know how the formulas are arrived at, but this could be one hell of a mess when it comes to recruiting.

Welcome your comments...................

 

[CoachCB]

Absolutely going to be a problem. If one school can offer more than another school it's going to be a problem. I can only image what "expenses" Saban will come up with to justify why their players are getting $9000 (or whatever significant amount).

When all things are equal will 5-star player pick the school that offers $8,000/year or the one that offers $2500?

Also, I can't wait to see the Title IX lawsuit when the woman's golf team sues because they aren't getting the same stipends. Do the woman's golfers not have expenses just like football and basketball?

I love hearing the arguments from the "players should be paid" crowd.

 

[RunLeeRun]

I had no idea it was to fluctuate like that. That's going the wrong way in leveling out the recruiting advantage. I'm sure that's something that has to get hashed out this summer with the other recruiting items.

 

[Conan]

There is also the matter of the cost of living variation from one one area to another.
That could be used as a justification for differing amounts from one school to the next.
There needs to be some type of formula universally applied that levels things out or
this could easily become a competition.

 

[RunLeeRun]

There is also the matter of the cost of living variation from one one area to another.
That could be used as a justification for differing amounts from one school to the next.
There needs to be some type of formula universally applied that levels things out or
this could easily become a competition.

I thought about the cost of living variation, too. I found a converter at cnn money. At least by that site, it didn't appear that 3600 at Nebraska would amount to much more than a few hundred bucks at a place like Auburn.

 

[cloverleaf]

As I said in the first post, I don't know what's the make up of each schools formula. But you are right RunLee, Auburn is not a high cost of living town. It's a beautiful little town on a college campus but the largest city (Montgomery) is 50 miles away. The rest of the area around Auburn is little country towns.

Found this statement interesting from Jay Jacobs, Auburn's athletic director. "We think student athletes are going to choose Auburn because it's the best place for them to get an education and compete. But certainly having a higher number (stipend) than most in the Southeastern Conference is going to be helpful. Having the lowest number of the SEC could be hurtful."

Auburn is already planning on a recruiting advantage..........

 

[Conan]

So what's the difference if Auburn funnels money to entice recruits directly or via a "bigger" stipend?
Funny how the NCAA can get away with encouraging the very same things that are verboten any other
way you go about it.
Any way you look at it it's still about paying cash to athletes to gain favor for one school over the other.

And what about Title 10?

 

[Conan]

Title 9

 

[CoachCB]

Title 9

That's been my argument about this thing since the beginning. Just a matter of time before there's a lawsuit.

Also, this needs to be set by the NCAA immediately. The dollar amount cannot different at each school. This will get out of control quickly.

The military uses what's called BAH - Basic Allowance for Housing. You get BAH based off of where you are stationed. I was last stationed in the Washington DC area. As an officer (O3E, which is prior enlisted) my housing allowance was over $2700/month. When I was in Jacksonville, FL the BAH was just over $1500/month. That's a big difference. Obviously the cost of living is much more, but for a college kid, the cost of living is covered. This money is simply pocket money.

Plus, keep in mind, almost all of these kids are getting the Pell Grant ($5500/year in free "grant money") plus other grants. Additionally, they are all eligible for student loans.

The last thing here is the smaller D1 schools. How are they going to afford this? Being from Jacksonville, Jacksonville University plays D1 basketball. They SUCK! They have about 89 people at each game. How are they going to afford to pay a stipend? What about the smaller D1 football schools who pay their head coach less than most OC's & DC's at bigger D1 schools? Where do they get the extra money?

It's a bad, bad idea. Why are they trying to fix something that's not broken?

 

[Albatross]

If auburn offers 6k, places like UCLA and usc needs to have 10k or more based solely on the cost of living.

 

[loomis41973]

This will be a huge mess unless it's the same amount of $$ for every team.

 

[GoSooners]

Meanwhile back in the real world, LSU is going through an economic collapse of their own. Something tells me giving out stipends to athletes isn't a front burner issue with them.


LSU outlines dire budget scenarios, layoffs and course cuts

Widespread layoffs, hundreds of classes eliminated, academic programs jettisoned and a flagship university that can't compete with its peers around the nation - those are among the grim scenarios LSU leaders outlined in internal documents as the threat of budget cuts looms.

The potential implications of such hefty cuts were summed up in stark terms: 1,433 faculty and staff jobs eliminated; 1,572 courses cut; 28 academic programs shut down across campuses; and six institutions declaring some form of financial emergency.

At the system's flagship university in Baton Rouge, the documents say 27 percent of faculty positions would have to be cut, along with 1,400 classes, jeopardizing the accreditation of the engineering and business colleges. Some campus buildings would be closed.


Link: LSU Cuts

 

[loomis41973]

Meanwhile back in the real world, LSU is going through an economic collapse of their own. Something tells me giving out stipends to athletes isn't a front burner issue with them.


LSU outlines dire budget scenarios, layoffs and course cuts

Widespread layoffs, hundreds of classes eliminated, academic programs jettisoned and a flagship university that can't compete with its peers around the nation - those are among the grim scenarios LSU leaders outlined in internal documents as the threat of budget cuts looms.

The potential implications of such hefty cuts were summed up in stark terms: 1,433 faculty and staff jobs eliminated; 1,572 courses cut; 28 academic programs shut down across campuses; and six institutions declaring some form of financial emergency.

At the system's flagship university in Baton Rouge, the documents say 27 percent of faculty positions would have to be cut, along with 1,400 classes, jeopardizing the accreditation of the engineering and business colleges. Some campus buildings would be closed.


Link: LSU Cuts

This is what happens when you don't have successful alumni to donate. I have interviewed numerous LSU grads.....never hired a single one. A degree from LSU is hardly worth the paper it's printed on.

 

[RunLeeRun]

Ok, here is something I didn't know. There already is a small stipend available if they ask. This came out in a Nebraska newspaper, so mostly isolated about NU but does mention a few Big Ten schools.

While much attention has been paid to a recent rule change that will allow NU football and basketball players and some other athletes to receive an estimated $3,600 allowance for personal expenses starting this fall, Division I schools have had access to the other little-discussed pool for more than a decade.

The pool — made up of the Special Assistance Fund, the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and the Academic Enhancement Fund — allows each college to set its own policies for reimbursing athletes for living necessities that are connected to college life, but not their sport.

The NCAA distributed more than $73.5 million to schools in 2013-14 to fund the pools. The money comes from the millions the NCAA collects each year from NCAA basketball tournament media rights. It is passed on to schools through their conferences.

At Nebraska, which got about $575,000 in assistance funds last year, any of the roughly 620 student-athletes can bring receipts and request reimbursement up to $700 a year, or $1,400 for international students and Pell Grant recipients. The funds are intended to cover costs that are incidental to being a college student but which aren’t covered by scholarships: new sneakers, a dress for a formal dance or airplane tickets home.

$700 is not a lot, but if you are getting most of your other needs met plus some athletic gear perks, it's a decent little injection. link

 

[CoachCB]

Ok, here is something I didn't know. There already is a small stipend available if they ask. This came out in a Nebraska newspaper, so mostly isolated about NU but does mention a few Big Ten schools.

While much attention has been paid to a recent rule change that will allow NU football and basketball players and some other athletes to receive an estimated $3,600 allowance for personal expenses starting this fall, Division I schools have had access to the other little-discussed pool for more than a decade.

The pool — made up of the Special Assistance Fund, the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund and the Academic Enhancement Fund — allows each college to set its own policies for reimbursing athletes for living necessities that are connected to college life, but not their sport.

The NCAA distributed more than $73.5 million to schools in 2013-14 to fund the pools. The money comes from the millions the NCAA collects each year from NCAA basketball tournament media rights. It is passed on to schools through their conferences.

At Nebraska, which got about $575,000 in assistance funds last year, any of the roughly 620 student-athletes can bring receipts and request reimbursement up to $700 a year, or $1,400 for international students and Pell Grant recipients. The funds are intended to cover costs that are incidental to being a college student but which aren’t covered by scholarships: new sneakers, a dress for a formal dance or airplane tickets home.

$700 is not a lot, but if you are getting most of your other needs met plus some athletic gear perks, it's a decent little injection. link

They've also been using this fund to pay for the Lloyd's of London insurance policies for star athletes.

This whole "stipend"/"full cost of attendance" is a joke.

I want to know:

-How will smaller schools pay for this (schools such as East Carolina, Central Michigan, and Idaho)?
-How will the small D1 basketball schools (that don't play football or D1 football) pay for this (like Stetson University, Univ of New Orleans, etc)?
-What do schools who have D1 basketball but only 1AA football do? (for example, James Madison Univ, Elon College, Montana, William & Mary...and many, many others have D1 basketball but 1AA football - who is not eligible for this "stipend")
-What happens when the woman's golf team sues because of Title IX?
-What happens when Alabama starts giving away $8,000/year due to a "loophole" and Troy or South Alabama...and the rest of the CFB world are only giving away $3000 (or whatever it might be)?

This is going to get ugly....

 

[Albatross]

^^^ Todd Gurley will cash that policy this year.