Obama says NCAA should require schools to give guaranteed scholarships

Add President Obama to the list of people who thinks college athletes deserve more than they get.

In an interview with the Huffington Poston Friday, the president said that the NCAA should require schools to offer guaranteed athletic scholarships “no matter what.”

"Students need to be taken better care of because they are generating a lot of revenue here," Obama said. "An immediate step that the NCAA could take – that some conferences have already taken – is if you offer a scholarship to a kid coming into school, that scholarship sticks, no matter what.

“It doesn't matter whether they get cut, it doesn't matter whether they get hurt. You are now entering into a bargain and responsible for them."

The Big Ten and Pac-12 have already taken the measure suggested by the President – four-year guaranteed scholarships. Based on the new rules for autonomy that passed early this year, the rest the Power Five conferences aren’t far behind. The same can’t be said for universities outside of Power Five conferences, however.

Obama seemed discouraged with the millions of dollars that flow around collegiate athletics, but stopped short of saying that some of that money should end up in the pockets of student-athletes.

“What does frustrate me is where I see coaches getting paid millions of dollars, athletic directors getting paid millions of dollars, the NCAA making huge amounts of money, and then some kid gets a tattoo or gets free use of a car and suddenly they’re banished,” Obama said. “That’s not fair.”

"In terms of compensation, I think the challenge would just then start being, do we really want to just create a situation where there are bidding wars?" Obama asked. "How much does a Anthony Davis get paid as opposed to somebody else? And that I do think would ruin the sense of college sports."

Above all, Obama’s main point of emphasis was to make sure those who are injured in athletic competition are completely covered health-wise, including the financial burdens that may come with surgery and rehabilitation.

“You’ve got to make sure that if they get injured while they’re playing that they’re covered,” Obama said. 

Link:  http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/obama-says-ncaa-should-require-universities-to-give-guaranteed-scholarships-235305341.html

Good grief!  Now Obama is an expert on school scholarships and how they should be awarded.  He just cannot seem to give enough "free stuff" away.  According to him, athletes need not be in any way intelligent enough to keep up their grades; they can be illiterate as long as they are generating "revenue."