Only 21 of 130 FBS programs have plans to pay the academic bonus

[Dawgg]

I guess I overlooked this because NIL overshadowed it. It looks like a legal way for the school to directly pay players. I feel like this would play well with equivalency sports like baseball.
It's up to $5,980 per year per student. State isn't on the list of schools with plans to pay, but Ole Miss is.

https://www.espn.com/college-sports...allowed-academic-bonus-payments-athletes-year

Full List:

Arkansas

Auburn

Clemson

Connecticut

Florida

Iowa State

Kentucky

LSU

Miami

Missouri

North Carolina

Oklahoma

Oklahoma St.

Ole Miss

Oregon

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Texas Tech

Washington

Wisconsin

<tbody>
</tbody>

 

[Smoked Toag]

Nevermind, after actually reading the article.

That number is nothing.

 

[patdog]

Of the 21 paying it, 9 are SEC schools and 2 more are joining soon. Only SEC schools not paying are MSU, Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Vandy and A&M.

 

[mstateglfr]

Some interesting points from the article-

In response to a federal judge's mandate, the NCAA changed its rules in August 2020 to allow schools to pay each of their athletes up to $5,980 per year as a reward for academic performance. The oddly specific dollar amount was calculated during the legal proceedings because it is equal to the maximum amount of financial value an athlete can receive in one year from awards related to their athletic performance, such as conference player of the year titles or the Heisman Trophy.

I had wondered why that amount was set.

All but one of the schools paying academic bonuses this year come from a Power 5 conference. UConn, a member of the Big East, said it will pay bonuses to its men's and women's basketball players who earn them this year and hopes to include other sports in the future.

UCONN focusing only on basketball? I need to sit as I have a case of the vapors!

Many schools, however, have exhibited an ability to stretch or modify their spending in the middle of a budget year when needed for coaching changes. Virginia Tech, for example, agreed this winter to pay more than $8 million to buy out the contract of former football coach Justin Fuente, but has not yet finalized a plan for how to provide an incentive for its athletes to get good grades. Michigan negotiated a $3 million raise for football coach Jim Harbaugh in 2022 after he led the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff, but has not yet decided whether it will use some of its nine-figure budget to pay academic bonuses.

Not surprised to see this.

The lack of urgency from many schools creates a situation in which their coaches or administrators may receive hundreds of thousands of dollars as a reward for their players' performance in the classroom, while the players themselves don't receive any bonus payment. Cal football coach Justin Wilcox, for example, signed a contract extension this winter that makes him eligible to receive up to $210,000 if his players achieve high marks in the classroom this year. The players themselves won't be eligible to earn any money for those same grades this semester.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is eligible for up to $100,000 in bonus payments for his players' academic performance. The Crimson Tide athletic department did not respond to multiple requests for information about its plans to pay bonuses to athletes and has not responded to a public records request.

As usual, not a great look for schools. Pay the person who coaches athletes for the athletes getting good grades, but dont pay the athletes for getting those good grades.

Some schools opted for higher hurdles for their athletes to receive the money. At Missouri, athletes will receive $2,400 for reaching academic eligibility but need a GPA of 3.5 or higher to receive the full bonus. Iowa State plans to hold all bonus money its athletes accrue throughout their college career and pay it in a lump sum only if and when they graduate.

Mizzou's plan is interesting. Iowa State's is really cool in that it encourages student athletes to fully be students. I do wonder how ISU will handle transfers out of their program. If someone is there for 3 years and transfers then graduates, do they get the payout from ISU for the 3 years they were there? I think ISU should pay up in that instance.

Schools have also taken varied approaches to which athletes will be eligible for the bonus payments. Some schools will offer the bonus payments to any player on any of their rosters, while others plan to offer bonuses to scholarship athletes only.

Dont reward the kids on the team that help bring the team's collective GPA up. Not surprised, but still funny to see.



I wonder what the threshold for 'good grades' even is.

 

[Dawgg]

The coaches getting an academic bonus and not the players got me too.

As far as Iowa State's approach, in a way, it sounds like a retention bonus at a job. I wouldn't give it to transfers. Get the grades, put in your time, graduate, don't transfer out, get $24,000-$30,000 when you leave.

From what I'm finding, each school sets its own academic levels (as long as they surpass the NCAA minimum APR/eligibility requirements) and pay structure (as long as it doesn't exceed the max $5,980 per year). I think in all likelihood each conference will eventually set those guidelines.

 

[mstateglfr]

The coaches getting an academic bonus and not the players got me too.

As far as Iowa State's approach, in a way, it sounds like a retention bonus at a job. I wouldn't give it to transfers. Get the grades, put in your time, graduate, don't transfer out, get $24,000-$30,000 when you leave.

From what I'm finding, each school sets its own academic levels (as long as they surpass the NCAA minimum APR/eligibility requirements) and pay structure (as long as it doesn't exceed the max $5,980 per year). I think in all likelihood each conference will eventually set those guidelines.

The ISU setup does seem similar to a retention bonus. 'Here is a bunch of stock that is worth nothing right now and will vest in 5 years if you stay.'
It could help reduce transferring out, which would stabilize programs. At the same time, ISU basketball has been made over the last decade on transfers coming in. You need players leaving to get players to come in. And there is the issue of players who are kinda-sorta pushed out of the program because they arent developing or cant play at the major conference level. Withholding $ from them even though a coach recommends they leave seems harsh.
That is why I would hope ISU would pay out even if a player graduates elsewhere.

This is kinda neat- seeing how each school manages the benefit.

 

[Dawgg]

Nevermind, after actually reading the article.

That number is nothing.

What do you mean? The dollar amount is too small to mean anything?

 

[ArcherSPS]

Lol so we have one, but just didn’t respond to this reporter when he asked us multiple times.

Great work Brandon Langlois!*********

 

[Cooterpoot]

Of the 21 paying it, 9 are SEC schools and 2 more are joining soon. Only SEC schools not paying are MSU, Bama, Auburn, Georgia, Vandy and A&M.

We are paying it. We were just late to the game, yet again. Started paying this semester.

 

[Dawgg]

Yep, apparently we are, but since nobody from State responded to the writer, he marked us as a “does not provide”.

https://hailstate.com/news/2022/4/6...des-financial-awards-to-student-athletes.aspx

After reading his responses to Dave Emerick and Steve on Twitter, I regret linking to his article. My bad guys.

[Tweet]1511843440199352321[/Tweet]

 

[mstateglfr]

View attachment 24240

Apparently they tried to get MSU to comment at least 7 times, and MSU did not respond.
Unless ESPN sent the requests to someone like Tommy the part-time Custodial Engineer in McCool Hall, its on MSU for not responding to one of the at least 7 requests.
...at least that is how it seems based on the twitter slapping I read. If there is more info on twitter, that may clarify things.

 

[jdbulldog]

Dawgg, I am glad you linked it for several reasons. It demonstrates someone at MSU dropped the ball by not responding. It also shows there are people who come to our defense, especially Steve R. The author of the article should have indicated some schools did not respond (DNR) rather than concluding they did not reward student athletes. Hopefully, there is some accountability here, especially at our institution IF we did not respond. This day and time we really have no clue who we should believe.

 

[Cooterpoot]

Our AD consistently drops the ball. Lots of people in over their heads in that department. You'd think with an assistant AD in every sport now, **** would get handled. But it's still a big cluster 17. Our AD is like a MS school district.

 

[johnson86-1]

View attachment 24240

Apparently they tried to get MSU to comment at least 7 times, and MSU did not respond.
Unless ESPN sent the requests to someone like Tommy the part-time Custodial Engineer in McCool Hall, its on MSU for not responding to one of the at least 7 requests.
...at least that is how it seems based on the twitter slapping I read. If there is more info on twitter, that may clarify things.

Us not responding doesn't excuse the reporter for writing an incorrect article. His equating not saying they have a plan in place to him with "not saying they have a plan in place" is moronic. The sad thing is, he probably doesn't understand why his statement is inaccurate, although it's possible he is just being an *** hole and intentionally being incorrect because he's pissed he didn't get a response. .