Pro or Amateur?
Word on the street is that the current price for a top college recruit is $50,000. The source could be a major clothing or equipment brand but more likely is a collective of boosters with pride in its alma mater and connections to various businesses. Depending which coach you ask, the situation has created a Wild West in which school prestige and practice facilities matter less. For the amateur inking an NIL (name, image, likeness) endorsement deal, the expenses of a summer’s travel to tournaments could be covered, with plenty left over for books, beer and walking around. Ironically, I recently heard the same figure—$50,000—in a story about Bobby Jones told to me by Sid Matthew, the preeminent historian on the game’s greatest amateur. It’s precisely how much was in an…
