Quote:
Originally Posted by businessdude
so don't follow college sports too much, but what I gather, it's okay for a school to be a say Adidas school - where Adidas supplies all the players with shoes and uniforms in exchange for some advertising/endorsements. But it's only good for Adidas if said school is highly successful, so Adidas, sometimes with the coaches help, funnels money to elite recruits and their families, which taints the whole scholarship process which brings in the Feds. Is that right?
Yes, companies pay big money to schools to have their athletes where their branded shoes and uniforms. Of course the better a school is at a sport the bigger the games they will play in and the more fans that will see their brand.
The news today that is "shocking" is that these big companies pay relatively small amounts (in comparison to the exposure they get) to encourage really good recruits to go to one of the schools that they have a contract with.
What is in question is how much do the schools and coaches know about this. Are companies like adidas stalking the AAU circuit and telling good recruits that they will give them money if they choose one of their schools and let the kid and his family choose the school or are assistant coaches talking to people at the company and telling them who they want?