UNLV Rebels AD Erick Harper Gives His Opinion On Student-Athletes Getting Paid

The UNLV Rebels athletic director, Erick Harper, has had a busy offseason. Not only did he hire both Dan Mullen and Josh Pastner to lead the football and men's basketball programs, but he's also constantly having to adjust to the ever-changing landscape of college athletics. There has been no bigger change in recent years than the addition of NIL deals, which pay student-athletes. Recently, Harper spoke with UNLV's official website to discuss how he feels about student-athletes being paid.

UNLV Rebels Athletic Director On How He Feels About Student Athletes Getting Paid

"By all means, they deserve to get something — especially those who are involved in sports that generate revenue through television deals. Have I arrived at a specific number yet? No, I haven’t.

There’s also the old-school part of me that still says, “What about your scholarship — doesn’t that count [as payment]?”

Also, if they weren’t on scholarship at UNLV, would they be on scholarship somewhere else — in other words, were we the only offer they had? And if we didn’t offer that scholarship, would they have gone to college? Where would they be four, five years after high school? Would they be on a path to a well-paying job and a successful career?

So the old-school in me wonders, “How much is too much?”

At the same time, if we’re going to pay our student-athletes, we have a very, very strong responsibility to teach them financial literacy. Because you can’t just give an 18- or 20-year-old, say, $100,000 and expect them to know how to manage it. The reality is most don’t understand that taxes come out and that an agent is going to take a cut. So that $100,000 dwindles quickly.

Another thing that isn’t often talked about: What happens when a student-athlete doesn’t make it professionally in their respective sport, and it’s time to go out and get a real job and the take-home income is far lower than when they were in college as a student-athlete?

I’ve already heard stories about former college athletes saying, “I can’t take that job — I’m not used to only making $60,000 a year.” But you just graduated. And the job market and your experience does not warrant six figures.

These are some of the realities that this generation of student-athletes are going to have to understand."

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