[CTcard]

I haven't beaten this drum in a while, but I think a way to address much of the corruption/difficulties of the NCAA would be for the NFL and NBA to develop legitimate minor/developmental leagues open to players coming straight out of HS, a la Hockey and Baseball. 
...
This might lead to less interest in college sports, at least at the level of the casual fan.  A lot of interest in March Madness or the football bowl games is the chance to see young players who your favorite pro team might draft, and speculate about how they will do at the professional level.  And for this reason, along with the cost that pro teams might have to pay to support a minor league system, reform is unlikely any time soon.

I agree that is a likely consequence, at least in the long term.

Presumably anybody who might create such a league wouldn't care that much about what happens to college sports (i.e. the colleges themselves wouldn't do it). Of course right now the NFL/NBA get both a free development league and a ton of free publicity for their sport and future stars. A pretty good deal for them.
It's also an interesting question how far colleges would go to compete against such minor leagues.

It's a trade off I would take: less interest overall for a less corrupted situation. But other trade offs would include fewer sports opportunities overall as there would also be less money for all the other sports.

[CTcard]

I haven't beaten this drum in a while, but I think a way to address much of the corruption/difficulties of the NCAA would be for the NFL and NBA to develop legitimate minor/developmental leagues open to players coming straight out of HS, a la Hockey and Baseball. 
...
This might lead to less interest in college sports, at least at the level of the casual fan.  A lot of interest in March Madness or the football bowl games is the chance to see young players who your favorite pro team might draft, and speculate about how they will do at the professional level.  And for this reason, along with the cost that pro teams might have to pay to support a minor league system, reform is unlikely any time soon.

I agree that is a likely consequence, at least in the long term.

Presumably anybody who might create such a league wouldn't care that much about what happens to college sports (i.e. the colleges themselves wouldn't do it). Of course right now the NFL/NBA get both a free development league and a ton of free publicity for their sport and future stars. A pretty good deal for them.
It's also an interesting question how far colleges would go to compete against such minor leagues.

It's a trade off I would take: less interest overall for a less corrupted situation. But other trade offs would include fewer sports opportunities overall as there would also be less money for all the other sports.