As a princeton alum whose brother and father are Yale alums, let me chime in here as I can reveal some inside info.
The alums of Yale and Princeton are currently in the process of raising $1 million for Blanks to go pro.
The value proposition is easy. Yale alums no they will never win an Ivy xc title but they are fine with sucking at sports as long as Harvard doesn't win as well. And Princeton alums are spoiled and think it's a travesty if they don't win every year.
It's really a rare win-win-win. Blanks gets rich, Princeton wins another ivy title and Yale doesn't have to see Harvard win anything. The only loser in this situation is coach Alex Gibby. He's a smart guy however and in the process of trying to raise $1.5 million from Harvard alums to give to Blanks to continue to commpete for Harvard.
I'm joking people.
But I was recently thinking about money and it's influence in our sport. Would it be illegal for Parker Valby to approach Whitni Morgan and say, "Hey you want to go to the Olympics? Give me $50k or I'm going to run both the 5k and 10k."