"Less than one percent": NCAA President Charlie Baker raises alarm over integral aspect of student-athletes journey

Although college sports generate significant revenue, leaders within the NCAA urge caution against viewing college athletics solely as a minor-league version of professional sports. One prominent voice in this discussion is NCAA President Charlie Baker.

Over the past decade, the NCAA has undergone numerous changes, but Baker emphasizes the importance of not fully committing to a professional sports model.

Obviously, in many sports, professional opportunities for even the best collegiate athletes are limited. But football and basketball, long the needle movers and moneymakers of college athletics, certainly present NFL and NBA opportunities at untold wealth. Baker cautions against putting that particular cart in front of the metaphorical horse.

"Obviously, for a lot of the kids who play at [the top] level, there's a hope that they'll be able to continue to play that sport professionally when they get out of school," Baker said on The Dan Patrick Show.

"But the percentages that actually play professionally are incredibly small. I mean incredibly small-- even if you take the very top tier, you're still talking less than 1% that end up playing professionally."

The last few years have not been kind to the NCAA. Challenges that have mounted include a growing movement to have student-athletes declared as employees (and thus subject to state and federal minimum wage laws). So far, Baker and the NCAA have been able to forestall that movement.

Of course, the NCAA was not as successful in keeping NIL money out of college sports. The door opened by former players was finally thrown open by courts, and players may now be freely compensated for name, image, and likeness use. The contours of NIL are still being worked out, as revenue-sharing possibilities are under active consideration.

Charlie Baker put emphasis on graduation

Baker did indicate that many athletes heed the warning against considering college sports as a minor league and use their opportunities to obtain degrees.

"With the work that a lot of those big-time programs do now, you have kids getting their degree in 3 1/2 years, because they're spending a lot of time in the summer taking classes, and many of them are starting graduate programs when they play their final year of eligibility."-- NCAA President Charlie Baker

The growing use of the transfer portal may be a double-edged sword in academic matters. Players can utilize shifts in school to pursue different degrees or programs of study but also can face a byzantine process in transferring credits toward actual degrees.

Plenty of NCAA stars did follow the path noted by Baker. The NCAA will certainly remain busy in working on the student-athlete balance.

Do NCAA athletes put too much emphasis on pro aspirations? Share your thoughts below in our comments section!