Special thanks to SBR reader Defender90 who sent us this story from SI.com, defending Coach Floyd for offering Lil’ Romeo a scholarship. Now, again I have no problem with offering a kid a scholarship to get another player and if DeMar DeRozan walks away from SC after a season Lil’ Romeo might find himself without a scholarship as well. As Andy Staples from SI.com points out, Division-I college basketball is not a game. It’s a multibillion-dollar business. And this was strictly a business decision. I couldn’t have said it better.

But let’s look at the other side of the free-ride story. First, some facts regarding Ray Ray McElrathbey, and then some outrage from ESPN.com’s Jemele Hill. Now, as we all know a scholarship is not a 5-year contract; it is a 1-year promise to pay for everything, and each year every player is re-evaluated to see if they should stay in the program. While Ray Ray is in a very unusual circumstance in the fact that he is raising his 12-year old brother, Clemson can’t keep him around forever when he isn’t that good. Also, Clemson is offering Ray Ray his scholarship through the summer (when he is scheduled to graduate) and then a position on staff as a grad-assistant. So, the negative press on this story only points out the facts that college sports are as much of a business as the professional leagues they feed.