NCAA President Mark Emmert discussing expenses for athletes?

After the whole Enes Kanter ordeal, it is kind of ironic to see Mark Emmert being on the side of expenses for student athletes? According to this article, Emmert will look into the possibility of more financial support brought up by his predecessor Myles Brand. Emmert also states that he will bring the topic up at the NCAA's board meeting in April.

Personally, I think this is long overdue. I fully respect and want the NCAA to keep it's label of amateur sports. However, I also feel that as much money as these athletes make for the Universities and it's governing body, they should receive a little extra benefit. There will always be people raise the argument of "What more do they need? They get free education, food, and so forth." This again is true but let me bring the following point up to you.

College athletes make huge sacrifices. Scholarships do help them a great deal but the stuff that happens off the message boards, newspapers, and television shows go unnoticed. These kids virtually have no social life due to so much time being at practice, on the road, in the training room, or in practice. They also take summer classes, stay on campus or at bowls, tournaments, etc during Holiday Breaks. This is a full time job for 18-22 year old kids/young adults. Whether we want to admit it, that takes a large toll on a person.

I say that these student athletes who make all of these sacrifices for the fans and Universities should get a little extra. What's so wrong with giving them money to live life a little and to travel home. The travel home part is what really gets me behind this. I stated above about how much of their time is taken up because of everything. If a kid gets a weekend, I would be all for the NCAA allowing the school to send them home to visit their parents and loved ones. Let's face it, not all, but a great deal of our college athletes come from humble upbringings. A $600.00 round trip plane ticket across country is not something they can just up and foot the bill for. Let's help them be able to go home every so often. It's the least that can be done considering the millions and millions of dollars that their talent generates.