There are some implied indignations in this thread which I believe are perhaps unwarranted - whether you know the young man in question or not. Reading between the lines, it appears some are miffed that the young man may be wanting to have things both ways - get a supreme education for free and then renegotiate something else when the pro option becomes viable. The military academies want it both ways as well. Why do I say that? They could end all this alleged controversy by making it a policy that incoming cadet's must forgo any pro aspirations up front but they have not. I am guessing this would hurt their recruiting... let me explain...
To me the issue with the young man in question is not if he will fullfill his obligation but when (I believe this is what ob44 has been saying). Thus far, he is just asking to delay it till sometime in the future which seems reasonable to me. None of his comments (that I have seen in print) seem to indicate he thinks he is above anything or is trying to get out of anything but others may see it differently.
Here is the other side of it rather than just focusing on this one young man. He has 30 other teammates who were not drafted. If the Academy were to get rid of the ball team just to eliminate the possibility of a kid getting drafted someday, then maybe they would never have been able to attract those 30 other kids in the first place. Thus, it seems to me a small risk for them to take to allow those very few players to have a chance at pro ball IF that even ever happens. Karl is one of very few players in the history of the Air Force Academy to be drafted.
CPLZ's son is going to West Point and I am guessing (correct me if I am wrong Chip) may not be there if they would have nixed the pro option up front. I believe West Point allows pro prospects to buy out their obligation for cash which I believe is 200,000 or something like that. I realize some may have a problem with that policy but the service academy may consider it an acceptable risk since all the other players on the team will indeed become service members. It could be argued that the team is an effective recruiting tool for them (the academies) in spite of the possibility one or two every now and then will be drafted.
I suppose the other option is for the Academies to tell all their athletes that there is no pro option at the end of the rainbow. Either commit to the military or forget the Academy. I am guessing this is not a workable solution for them or otherwise that policy would already be in place.