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If you were a world class ball player, would you finish your bachelor's or go pro?

Ok, you are a star college/high school athlete who is being courted by the professional sports leagues. They are offering you a million dollar signing bonus and $400k a year for the first two years. Your decision is wheter to continue in college or take the plunge and go pro.

The above figures are common for high school seniors especially in baseball. Good football players in college will get even more. You can stay in school and risk injury or you can cash in now. If it fails, you can go back to school. You could even do your schooling in the off-season if you so choose. Why would anyone go back. Matt Leinart choose to stay because he comes from a very well-to-do family and doesn't need the money. Most athletes do not have this luxury. Many go pro to help feed their families.

If I am in school to be an accountant and Price Waterhouse comes up to me after my junior year wanting to make me a partner, am I going to turn them down because I want to get my degree?! Heck no. I went to college to get a good job and one presented itself. Is it any different for Reggie Bush who will be drafted #1 and made the cornerstone of an NFL team?

What would be ideal is for a team to be able to draft a player after their junior year and retain rights to them while the player returns to college to play their senior year. This is what the Boston Celtics did with Larry Bird and it worked out rather well for them.
 
ham_man said:
Just out of curiosity, whom? I have a few guesses but the curiosity is killing me... :p

If I had the option, I would definately take it. Take half of it, and stash it in a bank account, and spend (or give away) the other half. You can still learn when you are 40. You cannot throw a baseball 90 mph when you are 40, however...
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i wish i could remember since it's my high school, but many years after i graduated from there...but a rival high school three miles away spawned pete incaviglia and you can't be from this county and not hear the name all the time unless you grew up under a rock :) he's monterey county's (california) all time most successful jock and it's unlikely that such a small place like this will ever see the likes of him again
 
jefhatfield said:
...but a rival high school three miles away spawned pete incaviglia and you can't be from this county and not hear the name all the time unless you grew up under a rock :)
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As a Texas Rangers fan, I could not have been more excited when they got one of the best college baseball players of all time (in fact he was later named the college baseball player of the century). He jumped straight to the majors and proved himself by nearly breaking into the record books his first season. Too bad it was Bobby Bond's season strikeout record.
 
No question I'd go pro. As others have said, that's something that is so much rarer than a college education. You can always go back to get/finish a degree, but putting off a pro career could result in you never making it.
 
Definitely go pro; have a few good seasons and retire at the top of your game with your body still largely intact. Then use your $$$ to buy a top-notch education and go do whatever it is you've always wanted to do for a living.
 
The whole reason to go to college is qualify for a career that will enable you to make more money... Take the money being offered now and go to college later... College will always be there, the skill level required of athletes that are good enough to be worthy of multi-million dollar contracts won't... There are very few degrees that will enable a person to make that kind of money over their career- let alone immediately...

Of course this is all assuming that the talented athlete actually wants to have a career in sports, some don't...
 
jefhatfield said:
...in basketball, baseball, or football where you can get a signing bonus which could pay for your college debt, new house, and sports car fleet of your choice?

in my small town of 1900 people, a graduating high school senior got a one million dollar signing bonus to pitch for the oakland a's and of course, he gladly went

the more common story is that a college jock, while in their junior or senior year, is offered a great deal by a professional sports team and usually takes it

what would you do?

go for the gold, or trash the offer and opt to finish college?

note: remember that having a bachelor's degree can result in 31% precent more income over a lifetime than a high school diploma
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No question...finish the BA/BSc. Perennial "what if": what if you are seriously injured and forced to retire prematurely?
 
topgunn said:
As a Texas Rangers fan, I could not have been more excited when they got one of the best college baseball players of all time (in fact he was later named the college baseball player of the century). He jumped straight to the majors and proved himself by nearly breaking into the record books his first season. Too bad it was Bobby Bond's season strikeout record.
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if his pro career, while not bad, was as good as his college career, he would be reggie jackson or ichiro, but it didn't go down that way...unlike other pro players from this area, he made it past the minors and had a lot of years in the majors and made good money...he once complained one year that he only made 300k .... that's more than 200k more than most of us make, or made in the 90s
 
jemeinc said:
The whole reason to go to college is qualify for a career that will enable you to make more money..
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but in resort towns, rural areas, suburban areas, small cities, stuggling middle sized cities, or agricultural towns, the money is made by restaurants, stores, service businesses, and farms and college is not a prerequisite...and it's all i have seen in my life

much money is made by fields that don't require a bachelor's degree...entrepreneurs, some medical professionals, real estate agents and developers, contractors of all sorts, bookkeepers, commissioned sales people, and high paying specialized blue collar work

college for most, unless you live in a big, thriving city, will mostly educate you and not produce a considerable jump in income...the way to have more money is to

drum roll, please ;)

....choose your parents wisely
 
Agent Smith said:
No question...finish the BA/BSc. Perennial "what if": what if you are seriously injured and forced to retire prematurely?
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Take the money you received in your signing bonus and finish your education well ahead of the game... If someone's offering you more money to play sports than your degree will ever be worth I can't see how it's even a question... School will ALWAYS be there- the potential to make millions based on an athletic talent you possess won't...
 
jefhatfield said:
but in resort towns or agricultural towns, the money is made by restaurant, store, and farm owners and college is not a prerequisite...and it's all i have seen in my life

college for most, unless you live in a big, thriving city, will mostly educate you and not produce a considerable jump in income...the way to have more money is to

drum roll, please ;)

....choose your parents wisely
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BRAVO !!!

I struggle with this constantly with my wife... She is convinced that the money we are putting aside for our childrens future is best to be used for college- I am more of the opinion that I would rather give the kids that money to invest in a business... There are good arguments for both sides, but being a business owner obviously I would much rather see them open up their own business and take educational courses geared towards their specific business than I would send them to a 4 year university (although the trend now a days is 5 years-lol), in which they can take advanced scuba diving for $1500.00 because it's 3 credits...lol...

College has the potential to be a 4 year keg party with a $100,000.00 cover charge...;-)... I'm gonna get bashed for that one-lol...I can feel it...;-)
 
jemeinc said:
BRAVO !!!

I struggle with this constantly with my wife... She is convinced that the money we are putting aside for our childrens future is best to be used for college- I am more of the opinion that I would rather give the kids that money to invest in a business... There are good arguments for both sides, but being a business owner obviously I would much rather see them open up their own business and take educational courses geared towards their specific business than I would send them to a 4 year university (although the trend now a days is 5 years-lol), in which they can take advanced scuba diving for $1500.00 because it's 3 credits...lol...

College has the potential to be a 4 year keg party with a $100,000.00 cover charge...;-)... I'm gonna get bashed for that one-lol...I can feel it...;-)
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college is good for a lot of reasons, but making money is probably not on the top of the list (if that list is checked with reality)

if one wants to learn and stretch themselves, then by all means college is the best way i can think of...my dad broadened his horizons by getting drafted into world war II and he doesn't suggest that's the best way to see europe or asia ;) ... i did uni in london and i had the advantage of not having v1 and v2 rockets falling on my head ...it was expensive, yes, but worth it and i would do that ten times over before i would want to see london during the height of a world war

i do feel sorry for those who joined the national guard to braoden themselves and hopefully to 1) provide stateside security and 2) fight enemies who threaten us but ultimately find themselves fighting an endless war with no goal with much of the rest of our allies not backing us up militarily or morally, and now to have gone into iraq, county without weapons of mass destruction, via bad information from "junior level officials" in our intelligence community that both the democrats and republicans want to punish for a grandstanding photo op while the caskets arrive here on a regular basis (but that belongs in the political threads ;) )
 
jefhatfield said:
i do feel sorry for those who joined the national guard to braoden themselves and hopefully to 1) provide stateside security and 2) fight enemies who threaten us but ultimately find themselves fighting an war with no end with much of the rest of our allies not backing us up militarily or morally (but that belongs in the political threads ;) )
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Don't feel too bad for them- Re-enlistment numbers are at a record high right now- there are more re-enlistments than they can handle... What that means is those kids who are right there in the middle of it believe in what they are doing enough to do it again... Having a true belief that what you are doing is meaningful and important, no matter what it is, goes a long way...
 
jemeinc said:
Don't feel too bad for them- Re-enlistment numbers are at a record high right now- there are more re-enlistments than they can handle... What that means is those kids who are right there in the middle of it believe in what they are doing enough to do it again... Having a true belief that what you are doing is meaningful and important, no matter what it is, goes a long way...
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i went to college and graduate school with a lot of officers and senior nco troops, and have a couple of bases near me, and live in a fairly liberal area so the soldiers i met were overwhelmingly leaving or thinking of leaving due to iraq war II and/or bush jr.

...a couple of air force pilots, some navy officers, and some army linguists of all grades/ranks...and not that it means anything, but i have not met any marines thinking of quitting, and they may be the proud, but they are also the few so i don't see many of them
 
Go pro! When in doubt, look at Lebron James, world class athelete had $100 million worth of deals signed BEFORE he played his first NBA game. Living large is the only way. :cool:
 
Malfoy said:
Go pro! When in doubt, look at Lebron James, world class athelete had $100 million worth of deals signed BEFORE he played his first NBA game. Living large is the only way. :cool:
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let's say he had a career ending injury or just plain got bored of basketball, do you think he would:

1) have money for tuition if he went back to college?
2) have enough money for his retirement having only had basketball as his main skill?

you know he could spend all his money...he could buy only 100 houses, twice as many cars, and own several grocery chains so my fear is that he would not have food, shelter, and transportation
 
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