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Reggie Bush: College athletes will need financial guidance if compensated

Meg Oliphant / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The NCAA's board of governors announced in April it would support changes that allow student-athletes to profit from third-party endorsements.

In an interview with Playboy, former Heisman winner Reggie Bush touched upon potential student compensation, insisting that college athletes must have financial guidance if the major changes are passed.

"Guidance is the one thing that young athletes coming through the college system miss on so much," Bush said, according to ESPN. "I missed on it. They're about to start paying college athletes. This is something that has never been experienced before, and it's going to destroy some people if their foundation is not in the right place."

All three collegiate sports divisions must approve the changes before they're implemented. If approved, they are expected to take effect by January 2021.

Under the new system, students would be allowed to reference their sport or school in advertisements but can't use conference or school logos and trademarks.

Bush said there are plenty of issues that can arise for young athletes who are significantly compensated.

"The one thing I wish I had early in my career is proper financial knowledge," Bush said. "I hired good agents, and I hired a good team. But I allowed that good team to make decisions for me. I'm not saying I'm going bankrupt, but if I had the proper knowledge back then, some things would be different.

"People just assume, 'Well, you got all this money, so you're good.' It's actually the opposite. The more money you have, the more danger you're in, because now you're a freaking open target for a lot of people. It's a nasty world out there, and it's about to get nastier. You're going to really start to see the true colors of a lot of people, and a lot of businesses too. You're going to see people doing some crazy stuff to make money, because our market is crashing."

The NCAA previously maintained strict rules against endorsements for several decades, with violations potentially leading to loss of eligibility.

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