I figure it’s as good a time as any to start turning the page away from basketball and to other topics, namely the coming football spring practices and spring game, as well as other various and sundry items of note and interest.
The State Legislature is in town, so hold on to your wallets, and duck if you are a university.
University of North Carolina schools could have a tougher time attracting out-of-state athletes under a pair of changes proposed in the state Legislature.
A House education subcommittee approved legislation Thursday narrowing a 2005 provision counting out-of-state athletes as in-state students. The law costs taxpayers about $7 million a year. The law helps university booster clubs that provide athletic scholarships, because those athletes are charged in-state tuition even if they’re not North Carolina residents. The changes would keep the tuition savings but count those out-of-state students in a cap that limits out-of-staters to 18 percent of each freshman class.
First of all, it is a red herring to say that out-of-state athletes “taxpayers about $7 million a year” and is shoddy, un-sourced journalism at its worst. Where does this number come from? A hat? Or made up by a sanctimonious state senator? WRAL doesn’t bother to tell us where they came up with that number, so make up your mind for yourself.
The important issue is to take a quick look at the income derived from these athletes — and we’ll assume that the bulk of them come from the two revenue sports. We’ll start by referring you to a good summary and glimpse into the financials of NC State’s Athletics.
SFN: On The Cheap – NCSU’s Athletics Versus The Rest of the ACC
NC State’s basketball program, ranked 13th, is worth $13.6 million. With expenses of only $3.1 million, the lowest of any team on our list, the NC State Wolfpack earned a profit of $7.9 million last season.
That’s with a dozen scholarship athletes. That means that each player earned — after expenses, mind you — $658,333.33 for the benefit of NC State University. “Expenses” surely covers tuition, books, as well as room and board for each of the kids. Quibble with the numbers however you like, but what remains a solid fact is that each one of those undergraduates bring NC State a lot of net income for their play on the court. I seriously doubt there are any undergrads anywhere in the entire university that bring in that much money. And the legislature wants to charge the Wolfpack Club more money for their education?
You have to be kidding me.
