Weidner's Words: NCAA: Pay to play

The past weekend created a stir in the college sports world after Yahoo Sports reported on Friday that the FBI, as a part of its ongoing probe into NCAA corruption, has documents detailing specific amounts of money paid to college basketball players by many different programs.Yahoo could not say how it obtained the documents, but they supposedly show "an underground recruiting operation that could create NCAA rules issues – both current and retroactive – for at least 20 Division I basketball programs and more than 25 players."

The investigation would likely affect some of college basketball’s biggest stars, as well as a number of legendary coaches. It could reportedly impact Duke, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan State, USC and Texas, among others. Top-tier players who may enter this year's NBA draft like Michigan State’s Miles Bridges, Alabama’s Collin Sexton and Duke’s Wendell Carter are also potentially at risk.

While there is some question as to the validity of these reports, most people believe that there is some level of corruption in most big-name college programs. This raises the question of whether college athletes should be paid. If the name and brand of a college student are continuously used to generate revenue for the NCAA and individual athletic programs, it makes sense that the player should reap some of that reward. This solution also doesn't require the NCAA itself, or any individual school, to make these payments, but rather other private companies.

When millions of people have played a video game based on your likeness — like EA Sports' "NCAA Football" series — and countless others wear your jersey, you should see a benefit from that. The current system makes it so that for the entirety of one’s college career, players lose the right to market even their own name. If the NCAA removes these restrictions, it would allow the most talented athletes at their respective schools to make money off their name and hard work.

This weekend’s report by Yahoo Sports confirmed something that everybody already knew. Players have been, and continue to be, paid under the table, and with 351 Div. I college basketball teams across the nation, the NCAA does not have the resources to effectively monitor all of them and the interactions between their coaches and players during recruiting. Preventing these payments from happening would place a huge burden on the NCAA and require a level of oversight that they are currently incapable of providing.

One could argue that changing the current system to one where players can make money off their brand would benefit the NCAA by creating a more competitive and exciting season each year. If the big-name programs lose the recruiting advantage they have with under-the-table payments, the top talent from each high school class will spread out across more schools. More league parity creates more excitement and could potentially solidify larger fan bases.

There isn’t necessarily one good solution, but this weekend's Yahoo report shows that something needs to change.