A prevalent debate in college sports emerged a few years ago as it became increasingly apparent that colleges were taking advantage of their players.

Those on the most popular teams were drawing in a plethora of revenue from brand and TV deals. A look into the financial details of this phenomenon would prove for most large market teams (such as those in the Big 10, the Atlantic Coast, and other popular conferences) had been raking in millions of dollars, an amount of money exponentially larger that whatever they would have to pay for scholarship money to recruit players. This revenue went unchecked, as no further financial compensation was given to the players beyond the scholarship money. Last year, the NCAA caved to the pressure. In the 2025 school year and forward, all NCAA football and basketball players will be paid to play.

Mount Carmel has been producing high level athletes for a number of years. This year, though, there’s another incentive for players to sign deals with NCAA programs. The current senior class will be the first to reap the benefits of the new deal. Previously, players could still profit from their college sports career using the last deal that allowed players to sign brand deals and be paid by companies using their image and likeness for marketing purposes. This mostly benefited the best of the best, as only household names who played for large-market teams could make any kind of money off of the brand deals. Now everyone’s getting paid, and that’s something to consider for MC athletes planning to play in college.

For some of them, though, money isn’t everything. 

“Other organizations offered me more money,” says senior Jack Elliott, who will head to Vanderbilt University next year to play quarterback. “But I’d prefer Vanderbilt because of all the other things, like my relationship with the coaches. I’ve been talking with them for a long time and they can give me benefits that go way beyond money.” 

And for senior Zander Gorman, even no money is preferable to the complexities involved with NCAA football. He received Division-2 offers for football, which he would be paid for, but he chose to play Division-1 lacrosse at Bellarmine University instead. “It did cross my mind that Division-2 football can pay out,” he says, “but playing at the Division-1 level was more important to me.” 

For some people, the optics are just more important.

There is one caveat to the new rule–there is still going to be an imbalance in how players are paid. First of all, players on NCAA teams will be paid against their performance. “If you’ve already played a year, you can hit the transfer portal and receive money from other teams as an offer,” says Elliott. “So theoretically, you could just go shopping for a better salary if you have a good first year.” 

This poses an issue. Larger market teams can quickly edge out small market teams by pilfering their players at the promise of a better salary.

Prior to the rule, players would often go the junior college route to better prepare themself for college baseball, giving themselves a better chance to succeed. Now, the pressure is on. If a player were to go the JUCO route in hopes of getting a better deal two years down the road, they would be betting future income against their ability to stay physically healthy and effective on the field. 

“Personally, I never considered the JUCO route,” says junior Noah Mister, “I never had to consider it with the new rule. Why would I do that when I can just get paid.” 

Since Mister is a junior, he has a different perspective. He will never have to consider an offer without, especially since he just plays basketball.

In the end, high school players will start to turn towards larger market teams for their future. In the words of Noah Mister, “Money talks.”