College Basketball Apparently Very Similar To Music Business

Romeo–formerly Lil’ “My Dad Is Master P” Romeo, real name Romeo Miller–is going to USC on a basketball scholarship, which is a remarkable acheivement for someone who’s 5’10” and averaged 8.6 points per game in high school. Surely these spoils are the result of hard work and dedication? USC’s coach cynically suggests another reason.

We may have more 11- to 17-year-old girls in the stands than we’ve had in the past.

It’s a hell of an audience, let Clive Davis tell you!

Now, for those of you who don’t care enough about college sports to either follow it or loathe it, this might not seem like a big deal. So they’re putting a celebrity on the basketball team! Who cares, right? Well, the problem is that the school only gives out 13 scholarships a year, and they would generally go to fund the educations of kids who couldn’t otherwise afford to go to USC. Romeo can easily afford to pay his own way–he also had a show on Nickelodeon, whose Web site describes him as “no stranger to acting”–but he seems to have gotten a scholarship for prestige purposes and through family connections.

In contrast to these sorts of dealings in the music biz, this celebrity stunt-casting and blatant pandering has worked. By putting Romeo on the team, USC got access to one of the top prospects in the country, Demar DeRozan. (Reminiscent of the funding strategies of many indie labels–suck up to the mediocre guy with money so you can get his more-talented friends to sign with you.) The coach’s strategy worked so well, USC reached the Sweet 16 in last year’s NCAA tournament. So what’s the harm, right? Romeo is a “good little player,” after all.

A Hot Prospect? [WSJ]