The issues with college sports have just seem to have gotten worse over time as more schools have become better known for their athletic programs than for the education they provide.
The ascendancy of athletics, actually, only two, basketball and football, where colleges are the defacto farm system for the NBA and NFL, over academics, has been going on for a long time. There was a case here in Detroit, a few years ago, where a high school football player did jail time on an assault charge for body-slamming a security guard at his high school. A few weeks after getting out of jail on that crime, he beat up his girlfriend in the school. What was the local news concerned about? That the guy was a thug? Nope. The news nattered about how multiple convictions for assault might impact his college football career.
Quick question: who is paid the most, the President of a major college, or the football and basketball coaches at the same college? Who is paid the most: the Governor of a state, or the coaches at the state colleges?
College coaches dominate list of highest-paid public employees with seven-digit salaries
Michigan
• Highest paid public employee: Jim Harbaugh; University of Michigan football coach
• Annual salary: $7,504,000
• 2nd highest paid public employee: Mark Dantonio; Michigan State football coach
• Annual salary: $4,399,437
• 3rd highest paid public employee: Tim Lester; Western Michigan University football coach
• Annual salary: $800,000
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/09/23/these-are-th…
Meanwhile, the Governor of Michigan, someone who could make a difference in people’s lives, is paid $159,300/yr.
Steve