Should Student Athletes Be Paid? UCONN’s Shabazz Napier Says He’s Had To Go To Bed Hungry

UCONN player Shabazz Napier helped lead his team to victory last night against University of Kentucky last night and while that was definitely a cause for celebration, the basketball star recalls times where he had to go to sleep starving because he didn’t have money to buy food. This definitely raises questions, should college player be paid?

“At certain points student athletes get utilized for what we do so well,” Napier said in an interview. “We’re blessed to get scholarships to our universities but at the end of the day that doesn’t cover everything. We do have hungry nights where we don’t have enough money to get food and sometimes money is needed. I just feel like there are hungry nights where I’m not able to eat but I’m still expected to play up to my capabilities.”

I must admit, I was one of those that felt that college players didn’t need to be paid, especially those who were receiving full scholarships. That in itself was payment enough and where that wasn’t enough, a part time job could cover. I still stand by this, actually. If athletes should be paid, why not pay those who are doing exceptionally well academically also? But then I got to thinking of the other side of the coin. Although the athletes aren’t getting paid, the school and definitely the coaches are making a TON of money off of them. 

College coaches at some of the best schools are making 2-4 million a year. Inner city kids get scholarships to these schools because they can run fast or throw a ball far but it doesn’t change the fact that they aren’t rich and their families couldn’t send them to school without the help of the scholarship. So, if a coach is bringing home $4million and the student is bringing home nothing, where is the middle ground? 

Napier says that although he feels he should be paid, he certainly doesn’t think that student athletes should make hundreds of thousands of dollars. “A lot of times guys don’t know how to handle themselves with money. But, sometimes when you see a jersey being sold, it may not have your name on it, but when you see that jersey being sold, you feel like you want something in return.”

So what are your thoughts? Should student athletes receive some type of stipend for playing well? How do you think this could be resolved?