Randy Smith
There....I've said it. College sports is being ruined by a lack of rules and regulations regarding players transferring from one school to another. In the most recent reporting period, more than 31,000 athletes entered the portal with a success rate of 45% finding a new school. Just two years ago, 2,611 football players looked for a new place to play, while last year a record 2,621 basketball players looked to transfer. All of those numbers were a major increase from 2021, the first year of the portal.
Did I also mention schools are now paying athletes to play? I've written about this subject several times and it absolutely stinks.
Should athletes get paid a stipend to play? Of course they should but not millions of dollars that some are getting. Should athletes be able to enter the portal and transfer from one school to another? Sure, but with some kind of regulation attached. Here's an idea....Allow a student athlete to transfer twice at the most but before moving on a second time they have to sit out an entire year. And put a salary cap on the NIL Deals please. Instead of allowing the Power Four conferences to spend 20.5 million bucks on their athletes, lower that total or at least place a cap on the amount of money one player can receive. That cap should be no more than $250,000. That would leave more money for more athletes.
What happened to the amateur status in college sports? It went the way of tie football games and jump balls at the start of each period of play in basketball. It no longer exists. To be an amateur athlete meant you played a sport because you truly loved it. In football now on the collegiate level, players who are planning to enter the NFL draft will normally forego their team's bowl game to avoid risking a serious injury. That's what some people call " being smart." What that shows me is somewhere along the way, a player lost his love for the game and when that happens, it's all about money.
Someone please take the lead and create some rules and regulations on these things. I've followed college sports for more than a half-century and still love watching those kids play. In the last several years I watched more college games than professional contests because most of those youngsters will never make a pro roster. Most of them were playing for the love of the game. Now? Not so much.
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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com