This is something I see fairly often when you got some guy who is most likely going to go very high in a draft in any professional sports, possibly #1. The guy decides to stay college for one or more year, knowing that his stock in the next draft may go down. The differnece between say #1 and #2 pick starting salary varies on the sports, but it's at least something measured in millions and you might go down more than that if you assume the guy isn't a prodigy whose supermacy is unquestioned.
Now I'll often see a lot of people say 'another year of college teaches you invaluable blah blah blah". Let's say you lose 2 million on your contract for one more year of college and it gets you a degree (it might not, because in a sports like NBA you should be leaving college after your Freshman year). I really don't see how you can say economically one more year of college is worth 2 million dollars. Presumably the sports guy isn't going to rely on his degree to begin with. If college is supposed to teach him how to invest money or whatever, I find it skeptical that a single year would turn someone from buying cars for random strangers and thus blowing all their money to a savvy financial guy. Now, if the guy believes there's something more he can get out of college that's his choice, but I don't see how it can possibly make sense from an economic point of view. Your potential earning over your life time isn't going to go up enough with that degree to cover for losing millions of dollars. If college is supposed to be some kind of slam dunk money maker, you wouldn't have all these students saddled with student loan and not able to pay them. It's questionable even on regular guys like you or me who end up with regular jobs whether a college degree is worth the 4 years, but when you talk about a guy who can lose millions for not going #1 in a draft pick? I mean if college is that important, he can go back to college later, or even take his classes while he's a professional sports player since they get a lot of time off depending on the sports.
Heck, if someone was willing to give me 2 million dollars instead of getting my degree, I'd probably do it too, especially since there's nothing stopping me from finishing my degree later. The only way I can see this turn out to be detrimental is if I somehow get in a position where I can become a CEO of a major company but they rejected the position because of my lack of a degree, and that's got to be pretty unlikely.
Now I'll often see a lot of people say 'another year of college teaches you invaluable blah blah blah". Let's say you lose 2 million on your contract for one more year of college and it gets you a degree (it might not, because in a sports like NBA you should be leaving college after your Freshman year). I really don't see how you can say economically one more year of college is worth 2 million dollars. Presumably the sports guy isn't going to rely on his degree to begin with. If college is supposed to teach him how to invest money or whatever, I find it skeptical that a single year would turn someone from buying cars for random strangers and thus blowing all their money to a savvy financial guy. Now, if the guy believes there's something more he can get out of college that's his choice, but I don't see how it can possibly make sense from an economic point of view. Your potential earning over your life time isn't going to go up enough with that degree to cover for losing millions of dollars. If college is supposed to be some kind of slam dunk money maker, you wouldn't have all these students saddled with student loan and not able to pay them. It's questionable even on regular guys like you or me who end up with regular jobs whether a college degree is worth the 4 years, but when you talk about a guy who can lose millions for not going #1 in a draft pick? I mean if college is that important, he can go back to college later, or even take his classes while he's a professional sports player since they get a lot of time off depending on the sports.
Heck, if someone was willing to give me 2 million dollars instead of getting my degree, I'd probably do it too, especially since there's nothing stopping me from finishing my degree later. The only way I can see this turn out to be detrimental is if I somehow get in a position where I can become a CEO of a major company but they rejected the position because of my lack of a degree, and that's got to be pretty unlikely.
