Some FSW men’s basketball players say they’d rather play than get paid

Florida college athletes could soon make money for playing the game they love. Gov. Ron DeSantis has publicly supported a plan to pass into law compensation NCAA athletes in the state. And some local athletes we spoke to said they’d rather have the chance to play the game they love in school than get paid.

FSW men’s basketball players told us they would rather keep playing the game they love in Southwest Florida than get paid to play somewhere else Thursday.

“My goal is to go back to the level I was at or even higher at the Division I level,” said Ralph Bissainthe, an FSW men’s basketball player.

Bissainthe and others on his team have dreams of making it to the NBA, where they can play the game they love and make money as professional athletes.

“I’d rather go to the school I’m playing more, so I could, you know, fulfill my future goals of playing professionally,” Bissainthe said.

These student athletes are choosing to play instead of looking to get paid at the college level.

The athletic director at FSW say he could see legislation being put through the process affect recruitment. He said more student athletes will become selective of a school based on where they  can get paid in a certain state versus a school where they would otherwise be penalized for accepting money to play sports.

Gov. DeSantis is backing multiple bills in the state that would allow student athletes to make money through endorsement deals from outside groups or companies — not through colleges or universities.

It’s something Simeon Kirkland with FSW men’s basketball agrees with considering some of his teammates are working hard to make ends meet.

“I know the struggles sometimes, so I would want to see that,” Kirkland said. “But I would want it to be used right, for like the guys who work hard and work for it.”