In Reply to: Thanks Barry, I pretty much feel the same way posted by traprh on December 27, 2025 at 14:40:15
College basketball and football are moving toward the semi-pro model and I believe it will go further in the that direction. I don't think moving back is to anything is realistic. Too much money is to be made for that to happen. Who knows where all this will lead, but I wouldn't be surprised if any pretense to scholarship and student requirements all but disappear.
Teams will have sponsors and connections to the university will be marginal at best and maybe universities will just lend their names to these 'professional" organizations - for a large fee of course . Something like the "UCLA men's basketball club brought to you by Honda or Dick's Sporting Goods" will be the standard. Maybe even coaches and players will have their own sponsors. Cronin will wear an AT&T patch on his three piece suits and every player will wear different patches of their sponsors on their jerseys.
Of course not all sponsorships will be equal just as now not all NIL money is equal (or is it just donated money and not NIL, I don't know) or the cost of buying university names will vary. So a Duke association will cost more than that from Oklahoma State etc. And the best players will get sponsorships from entities like Mercedes Benz while the lesser players may get Chick_Fil-A. Of course everyone will be making more money, teams will continue to change every year, coaches will move about more freely, and maybe we will see in season roster and/or coaching changes as well.
Maybe I'm exaggerating or just being fatalistic or I'm just cynical, or just plain fed up, but I fear I see something like this for the future of college basketball and football. And maybe that future isn't that far off.