In case after case, scholarship takes a backseat to fielding a winning team. In an investigation that ended last year, three Baylor University coaches were convicted of wire fraud for filling out tests for star basketball players to improve their grades. At least 40 other universities have been implicated in the same scheme. Involvement in organized basketball starts at an early age. The intensive scouting of young inner city basketball players can have profound social consequences, especially if they are not trained in life skills that will serve them after basketball.
Scouts scour the playgrounds of America looking for preteen talent.
When they find it, they report to their clients, high-school coaches. The coaches then recruit these players with various incentives, from scholarships, especially at private schools, to guaranteed starting positions and the attention of college scouts. So it is not surprising that when the subject of paying college athletes to play, the loudest support comes from the athletes themselves. Dick Vitale believes that the money and fame are causing not only athletes at the college level, but athletes right out of highschool, to declare for the NBA draft. Vitale also wondered if an athlete's long-term goals are harmed.