The Bagman vs Cost of Attendance Stipend

I heard a story:

There was a time when St. John's basketball did not have dorms, they were allowed by the NCAA to pay their players every month for food and housing off campus. The players then were rented at below market rates, nice apartments so the athletes could pocket almost everything paid to them. It was a massive advantage when it came to recruiting and when they built dorms - it killed their basketball program.

Moral of the story:

I think stipends will level the playing field. Some schools do not have a bag man but they do have the ability to adjust personal costs to improve recruiting.

JMO