Wow, get me a coaching job! I can't believe the dollars that are being thrown around at Oklahoma State.

It is mind-boggling.

I will tell you what really scares me. For years, boosters have been involved with athletic programs. When you start throwing the kind of dollars that have been mentioned in the Oklahoma State search, how much power is being placed in the hands of the booster?

Is there suddenly an obligation to honor the wishes of the booster? What happens when a coach starts to struggle, doesn't win and doesn't bring the kind of success that was expected upon his hiring? When you look at the big dollars being used to attempt to sway a Bill Self or Billy Gillispie, they are not talking about winning 17 or 18 games and making the NIT.

It all becomes scary. It is a wacky world as it is all about dollars. Think about how money is a factor in college basketball. Look at the NCAA tournament and the decision to choose sites with the most seats, the largest arena you can get.

It is about the green, money, money, money! I know it is the American way, but the attitude that exists in athletic departments right now is a concern.

I just wonder when boosters help pay out that kind of money, how much power do they want? Would it be over the athletic director? How about the school president who is supposed to be in charge?

Then there is the situation in Oregon, where Phil Knight seems to have a lot of power over the athletic department. He helped get the new athletic director in place.

This is not healthy for college basketball.

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.