Michigan Players in the NBA

It’s funny that the “related article” link at the bottom is this:

From this summer and includes quotes like “I love Michigan so much.” I think Trey was probably trying to make a point that college athletes don’t get remunerated for their contributions (debatable but there’s a fine argument) and got a bit overzealous.

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Yeah, pretty sure Trey has been back in A2 the last two summers for his camp and been on campus.

I think he was trying to sell the case that athletes deserve some form of compensation (a very fair case to make) at this panel which was about that topic.

Seems like one of those situations where he probably could have chosen a better example, because I’m not sure food is where athletes are under compensated. They get fed on road trips, training table, etc. that’s generally better than any average college student. Probably not NBA-caliber, but still.

As for the money management stuff, I again think there’s a case to be made for teaching those type of classes to athletes, but that’s not really what college is about. You aren’t going to go to the business school to balance your checkbook, but there could be a more practical class offered to athletes.

OTOH, he didn’t have to hire his dad as his agent and Jordan Dumars’ group to manage his money, if he made different decisions there maybe he’s a in a slightly different spot in terms of financial education.

Maladroit. Very.

What types of food are they fed on roadtrips? I saw the Matt Shepherd tweet he may like waffles but they’re absolutely awful food for highly trained athletes to eat. Of course seafood/chicken that stuff is good for athletes. You could make a case depending on the type of athlete steaks aren’t good either.

Have to assume it’s still better than what inmates eat though, no? :wink:

The program is very cognizant of nutrition. Food is not a big issue despite what Trey says. Certainly not jail food. That’s ridiculous. The NBA has speakers who advise rookies on taking care of their money and lifestyle issues. Trey picked his dad and his cousin as agents. No one at Michigan advised him to do that.

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In what universe does Beilein have responsibility for the food supplied to scholarship athletes, or for Trey’s decision to not eat breakfast rather than walking to where he would get it for free as part of his scholarship? And in what universe is Beilein responsible for teaching Trey how to budget his later life at all, much less for a not yet earned or calculable pro contract? I’ll hang up and listen for your answers.

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Serious question: Having seen some video segments about the player facilities at KU, UK, Duke, Oregon, etc., it appears that players at those schools always have nutritional options aside from whatever is available for regular students. Is this also the case at Michigan?

While I know those schools are “dirty”, I wouldn’t consider ensuring that your high-performing athletes are well-fed to be an improper benefit. Certainly it’s not a money issue for the school.

Anyway, as ASF said, Burke is entitled to his opinion. He may have gotten a lot from Michigan, but we got a lot from him. A championship appearance, for one.

The food they have on road trips is ridiculously crazy. They all have a TON of options to choose from. They will have healthy food and there is always a few snacks as well. The biggest thing that he could be complaining about was that the cost of training table was taken out of their scholarship check. Money wasn’t taken for game day meals though. None of that money is taken out of their scholarship check anymore. And now that get the cost of attendance stipend.

An example of a training table meal is salad, some type of cooked vegetables, rice, and salmon. The next day it would have salad, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, and steak. There was almost always a type of potato to go with a type of meat. A bunch of smoothie options are available as well.

I played D3 ball and at times was given $17 per day for road trips and most of our hotels we stayed at didn’t have continental breakfast. There was a time that we ate (while I worked at WVU) at our hotel for the Big East Tournament and the bill was $42 dollars per person for breakfast. It was about as soon of a breakfast spread as you could imagine.

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FWIW, the NCAA did modify the rules for food since Trey graduated. But there are still rules that say that the meal plan they are provided has to be available to all students – outside of one training table meal (which comes out of their checks).

Way more info then you could ever imagine about athletes eating here.

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I stand corrected. Thanks – very informative.

I imagine there is some variability in how different programs interpret “additional meals at the institution’s discretion to meet nutritional needs” and “any type of snack”.

I guess the question becomes what the nutrition was for him while he was there. I can’t imagine it was prison type food but probably a lot better now than it was when he was there. The question then becomes during his time could the school have done more for him and other athletes while they were there? I imagine there are still schools that skimp on things. Energy bars/protein shakes are terrific supplements they also cost less than 5 dollars a piece so they should be available to any athlete at any time of the day as many times as needed.

The thing that I had to laugh about was the breakfast comment. I guess the staff is supposed to have a nice home cooked meal ready for him when he wakes up in the morning? Is it too difficult to walk to one of the many dining halls around campus? In reference to him saying he wasn’t prepared for life after college, well sorry Trey but the NBA has something for this exact reason: http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2016/8/8/12405868/nba-rookie-transition-program-henry-ellenson
Burke has made close to $8 million in his NBA career so far. A good financial adviser costs up to $2,000 (many are much less than that) to set up a comprehensive initial plan and a monthly retainer fee of a couple hundred dollars. He 100% could’ve set that up but instead chose to rely on family members to tell him how to live his post-college life. I don’t see how that’s anyone in the Michigan program’s fault

Are we still allowed to hope that X becomes the next Trey Burke?

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Is it possible that Trey was trying to speak on behalf of student athletes in general, but he did not articulate his thought very well? Perhaps, he was trying to argue that for the vast majority of student athletes the free -ride scholarship just isn’t worth it when you consider all the time it takes away from studies as well as the extra demand it places on your body to eat more and higher quality meals? I wish I knew the exact context of his comments, until then, I guess I will to choose to believe that his comments are being misinterpreted in the article…

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Certainly possibly, we don’t have a lot to go on really. Don’t see video of the event anywhere.

When you find yourself saying things like Beilein has to take responsibility because maybe Trey Burke had to eat waffles and maybe he doesn’t like waffles – especially in the face of evidence that there were other breakfast options available like omelette stations – well, maybe you have to ask yourself what you’re really trying to say? Just something to consider.

Are you kidding?

Usually that would be called a “win-win.” Kid goes from a Columbus high school player OSU didn’t even want to National Player of the Year, lotto pick and instant millionaire in two years, and school has two great years (well, one according to MattD) of basketball.

Like I said this is how Trey feels. He doesn’t look very good with some of his comments but the school doesn’t either and Beilein certainly doesn’t when Burke says that Beilein didn’t help him when it came to personal issue/issues. In what universe does the responsibility of a coach with a player end when that player steps off the court for the day and goes home? Is Trey the only one that has to take responsibility? In certain respects he has to take responsibility but I am sure comments like these can be used to negatively recruit against Michigan which still has difficulty recruiting at times. I am of the opinion it’s not a good look for anybody involved.

I think you’re being disingenuous with trying to absolve Beilein of responsibility in regards to budgeting. The school should certainly make some type of efforts to make a class available for athletes. Just as Beilein requests information for a player who’s about to leave they get the information back. It’s easy to find the pay scales for 1st round picks from pick 1 to 30 and what he gets the year after. In fact here it is http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/info/rookie_scale

You go from that point, you look at teams that most likely will be in the lottery if that’s where he’s predicted to go. Look at teams what they have in regards to players at your position their contracts moving forward. There’s a lot a program can do for their players. Trey obviously felt he wasn’t helped as much as he could have been. The horse is already out of the barn you can’t take it back now. Trey will have to live with those comments and the school down the line if they’re recruiting kids will have to as well.