I was going to let this drop, but your take on this is so profoundly illogical I just can't.Non-responsive again. You used the term labor, they are not employees as had been determined by multiple federal courts. Now, let's get to the real truth of the matter.
Only a small group are good enough out of high school to go straight to the NBA. The others need something called coaching. Let's take PJ as an example. Out if high school I'm sure PJ thought he was a OAD. He was not, he wasn't ready, he needed Cal. Cal is a very valuable commodity. I wonder what the value of 1 on 1 time with Cal is worth? Well, I hope you have really deep pockets. All the while, PJ is slowly becoming a known player due to UK's high profile, opportunities and TV time. Huh, I wonder what that branding is worth. Again, I hope you have really deep pockets.
I could go on and on with the very real value these kids are realizing. Your entire thought process on this is wrong. These kids who play college ball and then go to the NBA already have a great compensation package, it is simply deferred while its building value. That is why these kids choose to go to school instead of the G league or sitting out or overseas.
It's a business decision that rewards them handsomely and the system that does this for them requires tons of revenue to function. That's just the way it is.
The reason courts have ruled that players aren't employees is because the NCAA doesn't want players to be employees. So they can continue to use a structure where the players are denied a huge chunk of the revenue they generate, while everyone else gets fat.
You want a simple test of the truth of that? If, tomorrow, UK, Duke, and 8 other universities said "Screw this. We're leaving the NCAA and we're going to pay our players 100K a year on top of other benefits", would the courts step in and rule that illegal?
Of course not. It's idiotic to even consider it. If 10 schools were willing to do that, it would be 100% legal.
So stop using Catch-22 as a "it must be this way defense" of a totally corrupt system.