BASKETBALL

$2,000 to $5,000 per year.

• THE TALK: Paying athletes akin to a salary is nonstarter for those in college sports. It goes against the notion that athletics is part of the educational experience. Hence, the term student-athlete. From a practical standpoint it is problematic because of tax issues and federal Title IX requirements. More importantly, schools could never pay an elite athlete enough to eliminate the potential for corruption.

“Whatever you pay them, there’s somebody who can pay them more, the guys that they think will be pro prospects, because when they leave, they become a very hot commodity,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.

COMPENSATION FOR THE BEST

• CURRENTLY: The NCAA not only doesn’t allow schools to pay players beyond the value of a scholarship, but also prohibits others from paying athletes for being athletes. This could be where a realistic solution lies. A federal judge ruled in 2014 the NCAA used the names, images and likenesses for athletes for years without proper compensation for things such as video games and merchandise.

• THE TALK: “There may be something similar to the Olympic model,” Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It used to be the Olympians couldn’t make a dime. Now you see Michael Phelps or Lindsay Vonn in commercials. They’re still in the Olympics. Still doing great. People loved the Olympics. So, there’s a way.”

AGENTS

• CURRENTLY: The NCAA’s five wealthiest conferences — the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference — recently passed legislation allowing college hockey players to be represented by an agent before entering school. Similar allowances were already available to baseball players. In both those sports, major professional leagues draft high schoolers.

• THE TALK: If the NCAA allowed athletes to have financial agreements and business dealings with agents and companies that wanted to capitalize on their fame and long-term earning potential, the current scandal might not be a scandal at all.

Calipari, whose Kentucky program has embraced and thrived with a foundation of NBA-bound players, said the NCAA needs to consider some way to provide advisers to basketball players. And as for providing money, the coach suggested the NBA Players’ Association as a possible solution.

“Let their family get a loan from the Players Association,” Calipari said. “What’s the problem? For travel to the games in the NCAA Tournament and everything.”

It would require a seismic shift in how the NCAA has long defined amateurism.

What used to be cheating would no longer be cheating.