The NCAA has a strict policy on their players staying amateurs, meaning they are not to be paid to play. Countless teams have had national titles and final four appearances revoked due to recruiting violations. Recently it was discovered that former Maryland standout Diamond Stone received money from boosters to attend UMD. While this payment was in direct violation of NCAA rules, Diamond Stone, and all other star players at major programs, deserve to be paid.

College basketball is one of the top grossing sports leagues in the country, universities bring in millions of dollars every season from things like ticket and apparel sales. Until recently, programs could profit off selling their players jerseys, profits which never saw the pockets of the players that were creating them. The NCAA keeps a careful eye on which students are receiving money and punishes them when caught, meanwhile they currently hold a near 11 billion television deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting. The young men of division one NCAA basketball bring in a comparable amount of profit to the athletes that we see signing hundred million dollar deals in the NBA and still many leave school in debt.

Diamond Stone deserved the money because there are plenty of other players at top-tier programs that are being paid. Somehow coaches like Mike Krzyzewski and John Calipari are able to land many top recruits year after year, it is likely through booster incentives. Just Monday, on the podcast Pardon My Take former Indiana head coach Dan Dakich said: “College basketball has proven that as a sport, for the coaches to be profitable, cheating does prosper.” Many of the incentives given are not just money but maybe a car or, for example, it is rumored some colleges have restaurants and stores where the top recruits can always eat and shop for free.

Maryland basketball had been struggling to contend in the Big Ten for a long time before recently, they brought in a marginal amount of revenue compared to other Big Ten foes like Michigan State and Indiana. Diamond Stone’s freshman season was Maryland’s best of the century, we saw a sweet 16 appearance. In the 2015-2016 season, Maryland athletics brought in $94,101,697 according to the athletic department revenue database USA Today released. According to documents released by Yahoo sports Diamond Stone received only $14,303, in comparison to how much the school made this is nothing. As one of the top players in the program Diamond was responsible for bringing in a much greater amount of money than he received. What other billion dollar organization doesn't pay their athletes, their main source of entertainment?

Diamond and all other athletes deserve payment for their performances. The NCAA continues to exploit and then persecute athletes for being forced into their flawed system. The current system forces athletes to do one year of college before going to the NBA. Many of these athletes are living in, or near poverty, and need help supporting their family. The NCAA has created a system where they get to exploit these young athletes talents before they can pursue a career.