An FBI probe reignited the debate over whether collegiate basketball players should be compensated. But Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman has one suggestion that could fix the issue: let top athletes go to the NBA straight out of high school.
“I think that if these top players can start earning those big dollars more quickly, that would be an instant correction,” she said Wednesday. “And that would help, as well, in the kinds of issues that were surfaced in this criminal investigation.”
Her argument echoes the sentiment of ACC Commissioner John Swofford, who on Tuesday told Cheddar there should not be a pay-for-play system in college sports.
The statements come as the federal government investigates recruiting agents and more than 20 Division I schools for giving players under-the-table bonuses or other perks, violating NCAA rules.
Some say that the NCAA, which generated more than $1 billion in revenue in the year ending in [August 31, 2017](http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files/2016-17NCAAFin_FinancialStatement_20180129.pdf), should pay student athletes. But Ackerman told Cheddar that players get other kinds of compensation.
“I was a student athlete at the University of Virginia. I got my education paid for, we didn’t make any money,” she said. “There’s a quid pro quo that I don’t think gets talked about enough.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/the-big-east-tournament-returns-to-madison-square-garden).
An Alabama high school band director said Wednesday that he was just “doing my job” when police officers arrested him and shocked him with a stun gun after he refused to immediately stop the band as it played in the bleachers following a football game.
Most of Spain's World Cup-winning players ended their boycott of the women's national team early Wednesday after the government intervened to help shape an agreement that was expected to lead to immediate structural changes at the country's soccer federation.
Be Well: Learning Self Defense With Non-Contact Sparring
Be Well: How Mix Martial Arts Can Offer a Full-Body Workout
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said his Achilles surgery "went great."
New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers said surgery on a torn Achilles tendon "went great."
Hundreds of Milwaukee bar patrons who hoped to score free drinks through its offer to pay their tabs whenever the New York Jets, and former Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, lose had to pay up after the Jets got an overtime win despite an injury that took Rodgers out of the game.
Former NFL player Mike Williams passed away at the age of 36.
Aaron Rodgers has a torn left Achilles tendon and the 39-year-old New York Jets quarterback will miss the rest of the season, coach Robert Saleh announced Tuesday.
Fitness in Four: Fitness expert Whitney Berger shows us some low-impact exercises that are good for people with a wide range of fitness and abilities.
