Beasley: OK to pay NCAA players
WHILE the lid has only recently been blown off the money-driven crookedness percolating around NCAA basketball, Michael Beasley knows the corruption is nothing new.
“You guys are just catching on,” the Knicks forward said.
Beasley was once involved in something similar to the widespread scandal alleged by the FBI, although it had nothing to do with the school he attended — Kansas State — as a one-and-done AllAmerican star. In a lawsuit filed in 2011 against his former agent and AAU coach, Beasley alleged he received improper benefits while playing for an AAU team in D.C., and that his mother was also funneled money through the agent in an attempt to secure future representation.
If this all sounds familiar to the allegations that have Rick Pitino’s reputation in tatters, it’s because the formula is the same: bribery of an amateur basketball player.
Not that Beasley thinks it’s morally wrong. The way Beasley sees it, he deserved compensation for putting Kansas State on the map. He just allegedly got it through an agent and AAU coach, rather than the school.
“I went to a small school in Manhattan, Kansas, that nobody heard of, and now that city of Manhattan has multiplied by five, six. Should I be compensated?” the Knicks forward asked rhetorically. “They sold my jerseys. Not just me, but Kentucky and Anthony Davis. About USC and OJ Mayo. Western Kentucky and Courtney Lee. We bring a lot to these schools and we can’t even park in front of the arenas in games. They still make us, as freshmen, park two parking lots away from the dorm rooms in the freezing cold. Do I think most of the players should be compensated? Yes. Because most of us don’t make it to this level. A lot of us don’t make it to the professional level, let alone the NBA. So I do think guys should be getting paid. The NCAA is making billions.”
Beasley was drafted second overall in 2008, right after leading Kansas State to the Big 12 tournament title. His lawsuit alleged that ex-agent Joel Bell and others provided money to Beasley’s mother for car payments and rent.
Beasley said his connection with Kansas State, however, was clean.
“I didn't get paid to go to Kansas State. We did it the right way,” he said. “(Former coach) Frank (Martin) is a morally humble guy, confident in his ways of basketball and recruiting. And him throwing a dollar out, listen, he’s cheap.”