Seton Hall University will cover newly-allowed cost of attendance stipends by annually handing out $2,600 to men’s and women’s basketball players. Jerry Carino of the Asbury Park Press reported the development.
The established amount will be distributed via two checks per semester. Seton Hall AD Pat Lyons commented on the decision, and was very practical about it.
“I don’t want to put my coaches at a recruiting disadvantage,” Lyons said. “If it’s something we have to do, we’ll do it. What that means is we’ll probably raise more money.”
“For us to be able to do the cost-of-attendance across the board, it’s not going to be as heavy of a lift as schools that have 25, 26 sports,” Lyons said. “We’re in a good position to adapt to what the market says. The majority of schools haven’t enacted cost of attendance for all programs yet. Schools are being cautious because don’t know what’s going to happen down the road with football five autonomy.”
“We’ll do whatever we have to do to be nationally competitive,” Lyons said. “I speak for the Big East. Whatever needs to happen to keep us in the top two or three basketball conferences, we’re going to do.”
The stipends’ purpose is to cover transportation and day-to-day expenses, with the number being determined by the financial aid office. The Big East decided earlier this year that such stipends would be guaranteed for its basketball programs, with others adopting them at their own discretion.
Moreover, how much each yearly stipend is varies across the board. Rutgers provides $4,200 to in-state students, while out-of-state students get $4,900. Penn State, similarly, gives its students $4,788. Near the bottom of the barrel is Notre Dame, with a yearly stipend of $1,950 for its student athletes.
Regardless of numbers, however, it’s good to see school athletic programs taking care of its players and making sure that they’ll have some spending money and not have to rely on outside sources for it, thus potentially creating a problem.
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*Featured Photo (above) credit to USA TODAY Sports
