About College Basketball Scholarships

The dream of a college scholarship is a reality for hundreds of male and female athletes every year. Some of these basketball players may be good enough to get scholarship offers from multiple colleges and universities while others may have to go to great lengths to convince one reluctant school to offer a free ride. College basketball scholarships may lead a few players to professional basketball careers while others are thrilled to get a college education.

Types

Division 1 universities offer as many as 3 to 6 college basketball scholarships every year. These scholarships are available to both male and female athletes. The men's team can have a max of 13 players on scholarships, while the women's team can have 15. The full scholarship includes tuition, room and board and the price of books and other educational material. In addition to a full four-year scholarships, some schools will offer one-year scholarships, partial scholarships or discounted tuition fees.

Function

A full four-year scholarship to a top school like Connecticut, Kansas, UCLA or Florida gives a young basketball player an opportunity to play his sport and get an education at the same time. At the top-level schools mentioned above and at other top programs, basketball players also get the opportunity to play in front of 15-20,000 fans on a regular basis and on national television. These athletes are seen regularly by NBA scouts who will determine whether they have the talent to play professionally.

Time Frame

Earning a scholarship is usually a function of demonstrating significant talent over a player's high school career. Colleges want to make sure a player is dominant and consistent and not just a player who will have a great game on occasion and then slip back into inconsistency. Sometime between the end of a player's junior year and the start of her senior year in high school, the scholarship offer will be made. However, in some rare cases a scholarship will be offered after the sophomore year and in other cases it won't come until late in the senior year.

Theories/Speculation

The benefits of a scholarship are obvious. Instead of having to pay for a four-year college experience at a major university, a basketball player gets to earn a degree without having to spend any cash. However, even though this is a tremendous benefit to the individual, the university is also making money off the player's talent--and in some cases it's a lot more money than the school is giving to the player in free education. The topic of paying top athletes in revenue-producing sports like basketball and football has been debated for years and that argument shows no signs of abating.

Expert Insight

On the surface, the idea of offering a scholarship to a basketball player who has demonstrated significant talent in his or her sport seems to be a major advantage for the athlete. However, what kind of education is the player really getting? There are a number of schools that will demand that the athletes enter a degree-seeking program where a major is declared and study is required. This leads to a demanding time in college where the athlete has time to study, play ball and little else. There's nothing wrong with that. However, there have been many scandals over the years in which basketball players and other athletes have not had to take courses that lead to a degree and may not have had to even show up for class. Instead of demanding that the athlete work hard and attend class in order to get an education, some administrators will look the other way so the player can practice, play games and relax the rest of the time. These scandals have surfaced in public from time-to-time, but there are clearly countless other situations that never come to light.