Should Justin Combs return his UCLA scholarship?

[ralaw]

Diddy, a.k.a. Sean Combs, the musician-businessman formerly known as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is a real daddy, and a proud one.

His son Justin Combs graduated from Iona prep school in New York state with what is said to be an A-minus average, and heads to UCLA with a $54,000 football scholarship.

That’s started the fuse on a public online debate as to whether young Mr. Combs should accept that money. His father is, according to Forbes, the richest man in the hip-hop world: a semi-billionaire music impresario and fashion mogul with a fortune hovering around $550 million.

You must wonder, does this scholarship -- deserved as it is -- also represent a part of a bidding war by UCLA to win a talented athlete who was being wooed by Virginia and Wyoming, among others, and also, not incidentally, win the loyalty of a rich father who could wind up donating to the school many times that $54,000 scholarship money?

And in a larger sense, what is the seemliness of UCLA athletics making the "rich-get-richer" gesture of providing essentially two years of a UCLA education to a student, however talented, whose family can pay his way -- at a time when tuition increases are rivaled only by healthcare increases and many smart, promising middle-class kids are getting priced out of college?

Combs’ scholarship is one of 285 such athletic scholarships UCLA awards each year, the university says. And the money comes entirely from ticket sales and private sources, not any public money, says UCLA -- in other words, no scholars were harmed in the giving of this scholarship.

There is no doubt Justin Combs earned it. His father called it "one of the proudest moments of my life."

There’s also no doubt he doesn’t need it.

The Combs matter raises anew the perpetual questions about the priorities of richly endowed college athletic programs alongside their starving academic siblings.

As Kareem Abdul-Jabbar told me a few weeks ago, legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden emphasized the "student" in "student athlete." His priority, Abdul-Jabbar said, was for students to "get their degrees, learn how to become good parents and husbands and good citizens."

Justin Combs has already made a gesture in that direction: Reportedly, he took a $10,000 check his father gave him for one birthday and sent the money to Haitian relief.

Will the family be inclined to make another such gesture?

Now that Justin Combs has the scholarship he earned, giving back the money would win father and son deserved accolades. Or perhaps Diddy could make the even grander gesture of writing a check to UCLA for $54,000 for a matching scholarship for some talented young scholar who couldn’t otherwise afford to study there.

Parents of college students find out that there’s always something else on the list of things their children need to get that degree. UCLA is no exception. Diddy is said to have given his son a $360,000 Maybach car for his 16th birthday. Soon he’ll find out find out that the hardest-to-find item on his son’s UCLA "school needs" list is a parking spot.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion...ombs-ucla-scholarship-20120531,0,593080.story

Man, people truly love to hate on other people.

 

[SuperKevin]

No. He worked hard for it. Lil Romeo volunteered to pay his own way to USC to play basketball but nobody forced him to do so.

 

[Realist]

No. He earned it and I don't see how anyone could argue otherwise.

 

[MrBill]

Financial aid and some academic scholarships use a persons financials as part of their award criteria. Athletic scholarships are based solely on physical ability to play the sport. Combs earned his scholarship and shouldn't have to re-pay it. Diddy will probably end up being a major benefactor to a new construction project on the campus in the future now that he has ties to the school which would be 100 times the amount of the scholarship. Big picture UCLA folks :yep:

 

[NAHSTE]

Absolutely not. It's not a fixed pool, so it's not like he's taking it from someone else. If he satisfies the criteria, so be it.

 

[Rayman]

Let's ask Oliver Luck, Austin Rivers, Phil Simms, Archie Manning, et al.

 

[NAHSTE]

Let's ask Oliver Luck, Austin Rivers, Phil Simms, Archie Manning, et al.

You mean Diddy's not the first rich person to sire a good athlete?


:troy:

 

[FedEx227]

UCLA will make their money back easily. New unis, donations, etc. Totally worth the investment.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

The classy thing for these filthy rich parents to do would be to politefully decline the scholarship so another kid can receive it. But at the end of the day, who are we to tell UCLA how to spend their money? The kid earned it, UCLA wants to give it to him, so it's really nobody elses business.

But to those saying UCLA will get a good return on this investment in the form of donations and money from Mr. Puff Diddy Combs, or whatever he calls himself this week, well, that's kinda the point of the counter argument. Some are saying this might be more of a business decision on UCLA's part as opposed to a football/school decision.

 

[NAHSTE]

The classy thing for these filthy rich parents to do would be to politefully decline the scholarship so another kid can receive it. But at the end of the day, who are we to tell UCLA how to spend their money? The kid earned it, UCLA wants to give it to him, so it's really nobody elses business.

But to those saying UCLA will get a good return on this investment in the form of donations and money from Mr. Puff Diddy Combs, or whatever he calls himself this week, well, that's kinda the point of the counter argument. Some are saying this might be more of a business decision on UCLA's part as opposed to a football/school decision.

From what I understand, anyone who fits the academic criteria can receive one, it's not taking someone else's money away. I know the article in the OP says it's a fixed number, but I haven't heard that from anyone else reporting the story.

 

[Warner2BruceTD]

From what I understand, anyone who fits the academic criteria can receive one, it's not taking someone else's money away. I know the article in the OP says it's a fixed number, but I haven't heard that from anyone else reporting the story.

I'm confused. Are you saying footballs teams have unlimited scholarships now? That can't be true, can it?

 

[NAHSTE]

I'm confused. Are you saying footballs teams have unlimited scholarships now? That can't be true, can it?

No, I am saying I was under the impression his scholarship was an academic one. Basically my impression was that UCLA had a scholarship fund for excellent students who also wanted to play sports. But if he signed a football scholarship, then yeah they have 85 they can use at one time. If he is good enough at football to warrant UCLA offering him a scholarship, then I still don't see it as a problem.

 

[FedEx227]

I haven't really read through all the details but hypothetically he earned it right? Good football player? Offers from other schools?

Was there outcry for Andrew Luck getting a free ride with a loaded family?

 

[NAHSTE]

I haven't really read through all the details but hypothetically he earned it right? Good football player? Offers from other schools?

Was there outcry for Andrew Luck getting a free ride with a loaded family?

No, but, well ... you know ... he's white.

 

[LiquidLarry2GhostWF]

Some communists.

 

[NAHSTE]

Some communists.

Hilarious that Mr. Capitalism thinks they should just hand that hard earned scholly to a poor person.

 

[Rudi]

This has been a hot topic of debate throughout the day on sports radio...there is absolutely no way he should return the scholarship. The kid has worked hard in highschool, has a 3.7 GPA [not that high school GPA is anything] but as a young prospective athlete your ultimate goal is to earn a scholarship to play college ball somewhere. Justin did that, so he should get the reward.

Plus, he is going to work as a part time recruiter I bet. Anytime UCLA has some recruits that are coming into town you know they will be sending Combs to pick them up in his MAYBACH and take them out on the town. Win win for both sides IMO.

 

[BigBucs]

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[ThomasTomasz]

This has been a hot topic of debate throughout the day on sports radio...there is absolutely no way he should return the scholarship. The kid has worked hard in highschool, has a 3.7 GPA [not that high school GPA is anything] but as a young prospective athlete your ultimate goal is to earn a scholarship to play college ball somewhere. Justin did that, so he should get the reward.

Plus, he is going to work as a part time recruiter I bet. Anytime UCLA has some recruits that are coming into town you know they will be sending Combs to pick them up in his MAYBACH and take them out on the town. Win win for both sides IMO.

Good points on both counts. He earned it, it isn't like they are bringing him along for the ride because they want another athlete to come with him. That is a great achievement in his own right, and who knows whether or not his father is even going to support him through college? I am sure no one has asked that question, though I am sure that he will.

And you bet this is a huge opportunity for UCLA to use him as a recruiter. He can take people out on his own dime and his own car and its just a college student and a recruit, not a booster. Perfectly fine for the rulebook.