Should high school kids and college athletes be allowed to have an agent? Not being allowed to seek professional advice while sharks are swimming the waters after these kids seems fundamentally wrong. I know some agents may be scum, but do the negatives outweigh the positives?
Honest thoughts?
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College baseball players are allowed to have an "advisor" and retain eligibility, which baffles me. Especially since the "advisor" generally becomes the agent.
I think its probably cause baseball drafting and stuff is a bit more complicating/on going? Idk, I think in today's world it makes sense to an extent, but idk how comfortable I really am with it
I think the best agent a kid can get are his parents. It's debatable whether anyone else actually has a kids best interests at heart.
That depends on the objective. I'd wager most parents don't know jack SQUAT (insert Farley .gif) about how to set their kid up for draft potential, etc.
In the same vein, I had a thought the other day about why great recruits go to schools in which they'll be buried on the depth chart. For example, I am a DE. I see that Alabama has depth at DE, a great D coordinator. I think to myself, if I want to be drafted, I need to be as polished as I can be and at the same time, remain healthy. No career enders. As such, I can go to Alabama, learn from future NFLers for a couple years, not risk my body on the field, and have a big brand name on my resume come draft time....that sounds like a winning strategy to me? Eh, just a thought.
Touche, you make a good point. However, I still think proving what you can do on the field beats having potential at a big name school.
This is a very good point. I'll keep that in mind if I decide to revive my athletic career.
Jack Johnson the hockey player may question that assertion.
Baited... Who?
Jack Johnson, the banana pancakes guy.
(the other guy is a columbus blue jackets player who's parents bought millions of dollars worth of stuff in his name, including loans, after he gave them control of his finances. He's bankrupt, shortly after signing a $30million contract)
I believe that anyone at any age should be allowed to seek any counsel they desire. At the root, telling someone that they cannot receive advice on how to capitalize on their own skills/potential is the antithesis of what I believe makes the United States such an attractive country to live in.
I think I agree. If nothing else, an agent could act as a buffer. Some kids may love the attention, but I can't believe that they all do. I do however recognize the potential extra layer of corruptness that a middle man can bring.
I think you're getting into murky waters here. I understand how agents could be useful: Parents of a prospect could pay someone a nominal fee and they would manage offers for the player and help them find the best situation for them. This would be great for parents who have no idea what they're doing and want the best for their children.
At the same time, the opportunities for corruption are extremely high. Programs can flood agents with tons of money/perks for steering a kid to their program. We complained when the Thoroughbreds guys steered their kids away from VT (for whatever reasons they had against VT), imagine how much worse it would be if it was a paid entity acting as a legal middle man between the prospect and the universities.
This is the drawback I see as well. However, I wonder if there isn't some of that same questionable behavior going on with the high school coaches that informally represent them. And if its not, could agents be regulated the same way?
Agents in professional leagues are already regulated- to practice as an agent for the NFL or MLB you need to be certified by those league's players associations. (I imagine it's the same for the NBA or NHL but I don't know for sure off the top of my head.) Many agents are also lawyers so they're regulated by their bar exams. Does anyone really want the NCAA trying to regulate agents?
I'm not really sure they need agents. Agents are very good at negotiating contracts and managing money. Those aren't really concerns high school kids have when picking colleges (insert your own joke here). Also, agents don't work for free. They represent kids in college entering the draft because they know they'll get their money once the player gets drafted. I doubt an agent would wait 3 years for money that may or may not be there. I'm not sure how many high school kids have the money right now to afford agent's fees or an attorney's hourly rates.
an advisor gives advice, they don't represent the individual. i have no issue with hiring an advisor
an agent represents someone interests and is often legally entitled to a percentage of those interests. is that appropriate in a sport that precludes the type of income the agent in designed to generate? i'd say no.
I think they should be allowed to contact consultants similar to how colleges and pro's utilize scouts. I see a whole new market here actually, people who looks at a kids skill set and then scout of colleges/coaching staffs and make recommendations to the kids and their families. I think I am going to steal your idea and start a business, French want a new job? ;)