Yes, College athletes should be paid but probably will not happen with the NCAA intact

Apr 4, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; NCAA president Mark Emmert speaks at a press conference in preparation for the men

At least not with the NCAA in charge.  And it’s not even all about Mark Emmert.  It’s about Title IX:

"The biggest problem is Title IX. The US Department of Education, who enforces Title IX compliance, has made it clear that all student-athletes must have equal opportunities, perks, and compensation. Even if schools wanted to pay their football and men’s basketball athletes, they have neither the money nor the desire to pay the ladies on the Field Hockey team or the gymnastics team or the swim team. In theory, one could try to challenge Title IX in this instance by claiming that the money is not “a perk,” but rather it is just the money produced by the players themselves. In that case, the female athletes would be free to keep any money they generate through competition (wink, wink). But even if by some miracle, that were to actually happen, the ruling would just create an even bigger problem for the NCAA."

And there is the rub.  Even if schools could somehow circumvent Title IX, well there are other problems …

"How institutions choose to comply with Title IX varies from institution to institution. 18 On the NCAA level, the Supreme Court, in NCAA v. Smith,19 held that Title IX does not apply to the NCAA despite the fact that the NCAA receives dues from federally funded intercollegiate athletic programs that fall under the scope of Title IX.  20 As a result, if the NCAA established a trust fund, or other such licensing program, to disperse compensation to former college athletes, it probably would not violate Title IX because the NCAA would be the entity distributing the funds, not the member institutions. Even if an NCAA licensing program is able to avoid violating Title IX, countless practical problems remain for institutions to face. Legal sports scholar Michael McCann projects that the NCAA could face potential liabilities of hundreds of millions of dollars because damages are tripled under federal antitrust law, though other legal scholars have disputed this assertion. 21 Regardless of the amount of damages, an NCAA-established compensation program would decrease funds provided to its member institutions, which could ripple into funding levels for salaries, facilities, and so forth."

You get it.  It’s a huge problem that likely will not get solved, even if the NCAA wanted to.   And right now, the NCAA has other problems dealing as to whether Mark Emmert is the man to lead their organization.  And the very concept of using athlete’s likenesses in video games and other forms of media have brought about lawsuits that could bring the NCAA to their knees.

"Meanwhile, a group of current and former athletes led by Ed O’Bannon is suing the NCAA for allowing their images and likenesses to be used in a video game. If the athletes win, the amateurism rules policing college sports may never be the same. Another federal lawsuit accuses the NCAA of being lax in establishing clear policies regarding concussions. Legal observers believe the NCAA could lose either case or both with payouts potentially costing millions. “I think what the O’Bannon case does is highlight an issue fans have known about for a long time but haven’t really focused on. These athletes make a lot of money for their universities and why aren’t they getting more of it?” said Michael McCann, director of the Sports and Law Institute at the University of New Hampshire. “I think the concussion case is more threatening to the NCAA than the NFL because the NFL can say the players agreed to it. The NCAA has no union.” The combination has created a perfect, but not unprecedented, storm."

Jul 17, 2013; Hoover, AL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops talks with the media during the 2013 SEC football media days at the Hyatt Regency. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

In the end like I said, it’s a complex question with a simple answer.  UK Football Mark Stoops sums it up perfectly:

"“I realize it’s very complicated. It’s not as easy as just to say, ‘Yeah, I’d like to pay the players,’” Stoops said on Wednesday night after practice. “I mean, of course I’d like to give the players more, but I also realize that’s a very complicated issue. You’re getting into a lot of things that I don’t have the answers for. “So would I be in favor of giving the players a little bit more money? Sure. But I would have no idea about how to go about doing that, and I don’t think a lot of people do.”"