“There are hungry nights that I go to bed and I’m starving.”

Those were the words of Shabazz Napier, point guard of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team and senior, in a March 27 interview with Fox Sports. For those who don’t know much about Napier, he is a first-team All-American and won the national championship this year and in 2011.

Most people may wonder how a talented player like Napier struggles to get food. Truth is, Napier is not the only one. Aside from a full scholarship, NCAA athletes have little to no additional money to spend on items like food.

Those who are against student-athletes getting paid would ask one simple question, “Why don’t student-athletes get a job if they need money that badly?” Getting a job sounds ideal for the student-athletes who need money.

From a practical standpoint, however, the athletes invest a lot of time in their sport. According to a 2011 article by CBS Sports, Division I basketball and football players respectively spend between 39.2 and 43.3 hours a week on their sport. In addition to athletics, education and sleep take up a huge chunk of these athletes’ time. The reality is that these athletes do not have enough time to get a job.

In the future, it would be prudent for NCAA to provide student-athletes with a reasonable amount of money. They do not need hundreds of thousands dollars; what they do need is a decent amount of money.

To add on, according to a March 27 article in The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA made $912.2 billion during the 2012-13 season. How much do student-athletes make from a season of playing their sport? Not even a single cent.

The NCAA makes a large portion of its revenue off of ticket sales, television deals and merchandise. Directly or indirectly, players contribute to those factors. Fans either go to the games or go watch them on television because of the players that participate.

After former Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel won the Heisman in 2012 as a freshman, the university started selling shirts and merchandise using Manziel’s nickname, “Johnny Football,” despite the fact that Manziel was still in school. Due to NCAA laws, Manziel could not make any money off of these shirts that used his trademark nickname.

It is not fair that a player like Manziel does not make any money despite the fact that he works hard to succeed in college football and brings in a lot of revenue for Texas A&M. If the NCAA and universities make money off of these players, they should give some of it back to them.

To ensure that NCAA student-athletes will try at the collegiate level, awards such as the Heisman or the Naismith should be accompanied with prize money. That way, players have an incentive to try hard. Hypothetically, a Division I basketball player would earn $40,000 per year. Winners of individual awards such as the Heisman or Naismith award can earn additional prize money.

To make sure that players do not play selfishly, players can earn money for team awards in addition to earning money for individual awards. A player for a national championship team, such as Napier, can earn an additional prize reward.

For the sake of  student-athletes’ financial security along with the fact that they should be rewarded for their hard work, the NCAA should pay the student-athletes so players like Napier do not have a reason to complain about not having enough money.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Arsalan Siddiqui at [email protected].