Marcus Paige is going to make a lot of money playing basketball one day, and he wouldn’t mind cashing in now.
The North Carolina senior guard was asked Saturday during a session with the media, in advance of the Tar Heels showdown with Notre Dame on Sunday night — his thoughts on “the idea of college athletes being paid.”
“It’s hard to answer that because there are so many factors that go into that,” Paige said. “When you see the amount of money this tournament makes, the coaches make, the people running this stuff make — I think the ACC is making, from the four teams in our league’s success, $30-40 million extra? Sheesh. I think a little cut wouldn’t be too bad.
“I just think the system is a little bit antiquated. I’m sure they can find a way to more fairly compensate the players for their part, whether that’s paying them or changing the rules a little bit. I think that would be beneficial. But it’s hard to change such a long-standing traditional thing like the NCAA.”
Eloquently spoken, on point and articulated in a way that won’t cause much controversy, but shed more light on “the haves” and “have nots” in big time college sports.
