I think we should decouple sports from education, like what is done in every other country in the world. Want to play in the NHL from Canada, you do not go to McGill or the U of Toronto to get there. You play Junior Hockey, considered pro by the NCAA, from the age of 15-16. Live in the UK, and looking to play for Chelsea. Again, there is no soccer scholarships for Oxford, Cambridge, or the U of Edinburgh. You tryout for Chelsea’s youth teams at 14-15 and work your way through the system. Everywhere else, school is for learning, and sports clubs are for sports, pretty simple.
That sounds like the proper solution. As it is now, pro scouts have their eyes on kids in high school so it’s not like they’re going to lose track of them when they decide to go to college or not. Heck, they’d be free to sign an offer sheet and play on a farm team or Arena League until they are strong enough to handle pro punishment.