From the Chronicle, 4/19/2013:
Nearly two-thirds of the 56 most powerful Division I public universities now offer multiyear awards, according to a Chronicle review of public records. Yet few of those institutions do so for more than a handful of athletes.
Among the holdouts are some of the wealthiest programs, including the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Oregon, and Texas A&M. At the University of Arizona, Georgia Tech, and the University of Louisville, this year’s NCAA men’s basketball champions, you can count the multiyear beneficiaries on one hand.
Officials from some of those colleges say their hesitation is not about the money—they just oppose making long-term promises to prospects who may not hold up their end of the bargain.
“Who gets a four-year, $120K deal guaranteed at age 17?” Christine A. Plonsky, women’s athletic director at the University of Texas, wrote in an e-mail to The Chronicle. “The last thing young people need right now is more entitlement.”
Speaking of entitlement, AD Rob Mullens and most of the UO coaches have multi-year contracts that require UO to pay their salaries even if they are fired. And of course we know what Frohnmayer/Grier gave Bellotti, who is also getting more than $500K a year from PERS, as a result of some very unusual accounting tricks.
Wisconsin wasn’t afraid to give me a 4 year guarantee. Of course that was just for graduate school, not something that would bring in millions for the coaches and the athletic director. And I wasn’t a naive 17 year old prohibited from hiring an agent to look after my interests. Nice scam these guys have got going.
I love how the athletic department follows others when it comes to alcohol money but not when it comes to how they treat student athletes. Gross stuff, guys. They are an embarrassment.
“Who gets a four-year, $120K deal guaranteed at age 17?”
Bryce Harper, that’s who. At 17, Harper signed a 5-year contract with the Nationals worth $9.9 million, including a $6.25 million signing bonus (the contract also included eight semesters of college tuition). Sounds like the NCAA and University of Texas took themselves out of the bidding pretty damn early.