You’d like to think that when they’re not on the court, life for a well-known college athlete isn’t all that different from any other student. Going to class. Staying in a dorm. Studying in the library. Eating at on campus restaurants.
However, the reality is that they’re sports stars who just happen to live in a college town and that means dealing with autograph seekers who are either 1) huge fans or 2) using them to make money.
Unfortunately, the latter is the norm.
Modern technology has made it a lot easier for fans and dealers to track players’ movements. When phenom Andrew Wiggins came to Kansas, he had autograph seekers who met his plane after it touched down in Lawrence for the first time, then dealt with more autograph hounds when he got to campus.
Other players say fans come out of nowhere as they’re walking around or having a meal. Some of them bring several of the same photo or multiple basketballs, hoping to snare a few extra autographs that are obviously going to be sold.
Bleacher Report talked with several of the country’s top basketball stars and coaches about the problem fast buck artists are creating.