Not really arguing this A10/SoCon non-issue. FU Hoopla can have fun tilting at windmills until the cows come home and see if he can find any Message Board Sancho’s to join the cause…but…FUBeAR will try to add some clarity to a piece of the discussion…hopefully…
“Fewer students and an endowment double the size of ours means they can give bigger and more scholarships…”
Only looking at Men’s Basketball as that is the ‘real’ topic here - FUBeAR is almost 100% certain that Davidson is a full scholarship D1 basketball school, as is Furman. Both schools give the NCAA limit of 13 full basketball scholarships, which includes ONLY all college costs, including tuition, housing, books, fees, etc…and a stipend related to “full cost of attendance” (outside the scope of this post to elaborate too much around that topic).
Unless FUBeAR is mistaken (which he highly doubts), the only difference in the $ value of a basketball scholarship at Furman and one at Davidson is the difference in the cost of tuition, etc. at the respective schools. A Miller Light in a swanky downtown Greenville hotel costs X. That same Miller Light costs X-y at The Stump Tavern, but it is still a Miller Light. Right? There could also be some differences in the “Cost of Attendance” stipend based upon the mechanics of those calculations, but not really significant $’s. Davidson cannot give “bigger” basketball scholarships to its Recruited Basketball Players than Furman and they dang sure cannot give “more.” Ahh…just thought of 1 other exception, actually … it’s possible that Davidson could provide more academic money to walk-on Basketball Players, but if Coaches are doing their job in Recruiting, walk-on’s are rarely significant gameday contributors to any D1 College Hoops programs. The difference they might provide as “Scout Team” opponents in practice because they rec’d $5k more in merit money are doubtlessly negligible.
“…some of those scholarships are to students who happen to be good athletes.”
Neither Davidson nor Furman are recruiting “students who happen to be good athletes” as Scholarship Players for their Basketball programs. They are recruiting OUTSTANDING Basketball Players who have the necessary requirements to be admitted to their schools and, hopefully, the ability and maturity to stay eligible to play Basketball and, hopefully, be good citizens within the school’s community, and hopefully, one day, graduate.
Now…if you want to get into a discussion around current & future differences in NIL packages that the existing or contemplated affiliated “Collectives” of these 2 schools may currently or someday offer to prospective and current Players to buy their attendance / retention and Basketball services at their school…well that’s an ELEPHANT of a different color…and one FUBeAR has no (positive) interest in contemplating / discussing.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,
For he today who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother