Graduation Year

2022

Date of Submission

4-2022

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Florian Madison

Abstract

Collegiate basketball athletes are often struggling to determine the best career path for themselves when their respective college careers are over. For some, the next step is to play professionally, but for a majority their next step is to use their college education to obtain an entry level position. This study takes a look at the expected salaries of the collegiate athletes based on the three career path options that are available to them: domestic professional basketball, international professional basketball, or to leave basketball entirely. I use expected salary equations to lay out the expected salaries of the three career paths and utilize the majors that collegiate athletes are currently studying. This includes the probability of them making specific leagues based on projections and performance indicators such as Points Per Game (PPG). My regression output analyzes a majority of variables that may contribute to a collegiate athlete’s PPG value which is the main indicator of deciphering between the career paths an athlete will choose post college. The results of the regression did not have enough significance to make a strong claim, but there were notable trends that could lead to assumptions about how a college athlete major, and year could contribute to their PPG value. According to the trends of the regression model, if a collegiate athlete studies a major with a higher paying starting salary, they will on average have a lower PPG than an individual who studies a major that has a lower paying starting salary.

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This thesis is restricted to the Claremont Colleges current faculty, students, and staff.

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