Michael Beasley: World just catching on to NCAA corruption

Former college basketball standout Michael Beasley addresses the corruption in the NCAA.

Nearly a decade ago, New York Knicks forward Michael Beasley was the second-overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. At the time, it appeared Beasley was destined for greatness. However, things didn’t go as planned. Injuries coupled with off the court issues hindered Beasley’s potential to be great.

The 28-year-old has been on five different NBA teams with the Knicks being his sixth stop. No matter what Beasley does from here on forward, he’ll never become a household name on the NBA level. Nonetheless, his name still rings a bell in Manhattan, Kansas.

For Beasley to be such a household name out of high school, it was a bit surprising to see him go to Kansas State, especially since he never visited the school during his recruitment. Some may have assumed the Wildcats did something illegal to get Beasley to commit and with the news breaking yesterday, everything must come into question.

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Some people are shocked to see this unfold, but Beasley isn’t one of those individuals.

"“Man, you guys are just catching on. And that’s all I gotta say."

He actually had much more to say.

"“I went to a small school in Manhattan, Kansas that nobody heard of in 25 years. That the city of Manhattan has now multiplied five, six — should I be compensated?"

Beasley fully believes basketball players should be paid.

"Yes. Because most of us don’t make it to this level. A lot of us don’t make it to the professional level, let alone the NBA. So I do think guys should be getting paid."

The debate as to whether student-athletes should be paid or not will never die unless something actually happens. Don’t hold your breath.