Here’s a hypothetical: it’s March 2016 and the Shocker men’s basketball team just drove through March Madness and won the NCAA national championship. Senior Fred VanVleet, the leader, makes 36 points in the championship game, carrying the team.

He’s a star — a projected first-round NBA draft pick. He and his family will never have to worry about money again. And a few weeks after the championship game, during a pick-up game, he tears his ACL — his career is over.

VanVleet is a sociology major. I’m not going to say his degree is any less valuable than the average sociology major. But if I had to bet on what he’s better at — sociology or basketball — I’d bet basketball. If I had to bet on which he’s invested more in, I’d bet basketball. And if I had to bet on which would provide a better future for him, I’d bet basketball.

Our basketball players sign contracts to play at Wichita State. They work incredibly hard for a set amount of years, and they’re compensated with paid travel expenses, dorms, food, training and education — and that’s it.

Here’s an interesting comparison. The Merriam-Webster dictionary definition of an indentured servant is “a person who signs and is bound by indentures to work for another for a specified time especially in return for payment of travel expenses and maintenance.”

Our players are being exploited. In reporter Alex Perry’s story on page one, he says that the men’s basketball team generated around $555 million worth of media exposure in 2013. He points out that this isn’t income — the university didn’t get $555 million — but that the amount of exposure the university got on behalf of the basketball team is worth $555 million.

Half a billion worth of exposure equals money — and lots of it. It means huge sale increases in game tickets, jerseys, T-shirts, jackets, hats, pictures, posters, basketballs, foam hands, shot glasses, key chains and more. People who haven’t done a thing to deserve it are making millions on the backs of the 15 boys who give everything they’ve got for Shocker basketball — and our boys won’t see a dime of it.

It’s an NCAA rule that athletes can’t be paid. The rule was designed to maintain integrity in sports — so athletes receive absolutely nothing. That’s a joke. That’s greed. That’s exploitation. Create trusts or savings accounts that aren’t available until the student athlete graduates. If that doesn’t work, figure out what does. If there’s a will to pay them for their work, a way will be found.