Is it Cost Effective to Remain an NCAA Athlete Over Going Pro?

Often an athlete will forego their remaining years of eligibility to turn pro – often due to the lucrative incentives that come with being a professional athlete. This often happens in men’s sports than it does in women’s sport. However, sometimes, an athlete may choose to play another year of an NCAA sport because they seek a better gain by staying in college now with the Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) changes being effective. Although most NIL deals are relatively small, there are exceptions that may weigh in favor of staying in school.

Blake Corum is a Junior at the University of Michigan. He finished seventh in voting for the Heisman Trophy for the 2022 season. Entering the 2022 season, it was believed that Blake Corum’s junior season would be his last season as he was anticipated to be a respectable draft pick for the 2023 draft. However, his “stock” changed after he suffered a knee injury in the first half of Michigan’s ultimately fourth to last game. All Corum had to do was stay healthy in the 2022 season and he’d be a professional athlete by May 2023. Corum ultimately had knee surgery before Michigan’s appearance in the Big Ten Championship and the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. In early 2023, Corum announce that he would be staying at the University of Michigan for another year. Could this be because he could actually make more money off an NIL deal, then risk going undrafted and taking a contact as a practice player at best?

According to On3 NIL 100, Blake Corum is listed as having an NIL valuation of $1.1 million, which ranked 21st on the top 100 list. Practice squad player for an NFL team make $11,500 per week, or $207,000 for 18 weeks. Veteran players with over two years of experience will make a minimum of $15,400 per week or $277,200 for 18 weeks, and a maximum of $19,900 per week or $358,200. If Corum was to be drafted, the starting salary for a first-round draft pick is $660,000, but up to $6.6 million annually. However, with Corum’s knee injury he was projected to not be a first-round draft pick, probably not even a 4th round draft pick. Either way you slice it, Corum is set to make more as a college athlete than as a professional athlete for the 2023 – 2024 season.

The NCAAs rules and regulations seem to benefit the NCAA more than it does for the athlete. The NCAA wants student athletes to stay in the NCAA longer because they have the most to gain. The NCAA is a non-profit organization that brings in millions of dollars just in the month of March for March Madness. Implementing the NIL may keep athletes within a university longer, like in the case of Blake Corum. - Colleen Kolis, Esq.