perhaps a greater percentage of ivy athletes play for "the love of the sport", as something less than 1% of all college athletes will go on to a professional ca

perhaps a greater percentage of ivy athletes play for "the love of the sport", as something less than 1% of all college athletes will go on to a professional career (and few of those will by ivy leaguers), but competition is certainly still central. folks who go to exclusive schools tend to be quite competitive, practically by definition. winning and being competitive are certainly not the same though. these athletes want to win, even if they're at a disadvantage and don't win as often as the big sports schools. note also that ivy leaguers tend to do better at sports in which money hasn't heavily distorted the playing field. the problem for ivies with respect to recruiting (for winning) is the academic admissions floor, not money (harvard and yale having two of the biggest endowments in history) nor necessarily even an aversion to cheating and corruption. top athletes are too conspicuous not to draw outsized scrutiny in that regard, and tarnishing the brand that way just isn't worth it.