P. Diddy’s Son Gets Scholarship, but is it Fair?

Questions have been surfacing recently about Justin Combs, the son of Sean "P. Diddy" (aka Puff Daddy) Combs - should be eligible for a scholarship given the humongous wealth that the rap mogul has.

Justin Combs attended Iona Prep in New Rochelle (a very high income area of Westchester County, New York), and was a standout high school football player playing defense (at the cornerback spot).  The young Combs was being courted by various big-time college programs before he chose UCLA to attend on a full athletic scholarship.

The "Merit Based" scholarship rewards Justin with an education worth $54,000 - a well deserving reward for a young man who also excelled in the classroom with a 3.75 GPA at Iona Prep.  This story would not even that big of a deal if Justin's father was not the rap pioneer who has built an empire with a net worth over $500 Million!

ESPN has reported that some are questioning whether Justin Combs should pass on the $54,000 athletic scholarship awarded to him by the university because of his family's wealth.  UCLA released a statement explaining that athletic scholarships are not based on finances and do not rely on taxpayers' money but "are entirely funded through UCLA Athletics ticket sales, corporate partnerships, media contracts and private donations from supporters".

What's interesting here is that we have seen people come from very rich families accept scholarships, nobody seemed to raise eyebrows before.  Take Michael Jordan - the former NBA star has a net worth in the $500 Million range like P. Diddy, and both of his sons went to college on accepted athletic scholarships.

Vicki Hyman of the Star Ledger made an interesting point recently by stating "Justin's father is likely to funnel many times the scholarship amount into UCLA".

If you think Justin Combs is just a side-show attraction, why would schools like Virginia, Iowa and Illinois go after this 3-star rated recruit?  How else do you achieve a high GPA?  He has defended his scholarship on Twitter by tweeting recently "Regardless of what you do in life everyone is gonna have their own opinion".  Free free to leave your opinions on this!