Are College Athletes Professionals?

College sports is supposed to be the purest form of whatever sport that is being played. For example College basketball is meant to be where you go to school and on the side you are an athlete that represents your school just for the love of it. There should not be any agents or money involved to inspire an athlete to play at his highest level and should not be the reason that they choose a school. If they are good enough it will come later in life. While everyone in the general public wants it to be like that, the truth is that it cannot be any farther. Players are being paid large amounts and are being bought things of monetary value. For example in college football Reggie Bush, Cam Newton, and many others have been involved with agents or the school paying them money. College sports is a huge industry, specially football and basketball, and I do also understand that these athletes spend many hours in the gym practicing, but they should not be regarded or treated like they are professional athletes. That is what professional sports are for, to get paid for being an excellent athlete. It is becoming a problem that people are thinking of them as entertainers and athletes, but they are forgetting the reason that they are where they are is to get an education. If agents or whoever is paying these athletes is doing this, it will cause them to not care about school because they believe that there is no reason to go to class. If this happens they are making the school bad for bringing them to the institution. Money should stay in professional sports where it belongs.