Whether or not all of the players think they're going pro is immaterial. If a condition of their being on the team is that they attend college according to some standard set by someone, then they are student athletes. It's as simple as that.

Colleges can only do so much to ensure that players get their degrees - and they do a lot. In the end, the players have to put in the work. If they don't, it's not on the college, particularly when they go to such lengths to try and support their education.

I find it interesting that those who claim that college sports have become professional always - always - step to one solution: just go ahead and make it all pro. It never occurs to them that there is another equally viable option: make it even more amateur. Increase admission standards, reduce team obligations, and increase the requirements that must be met to remain on the team.

In the end, all of the the objections to or arguments against the current state, - the failure to educate the kids, exploiting their labor, etc. - always lead to the same basic proposal: pay the athletes more money. The fact that all of these angles point to the same people to the same conclusions strongly suggests that the moral objections are not genuine and are simply being used in the service of one group getting more power and money.
[Post edited by pienkows at 05/16/2018 7:01PM]