“Top quality” education is debatable in most cases. They get a free education on a very inflated cost product. College should cost between $10-$20k/yr. So they get $40-$80k over 4 years while the universities make in some cases nearly a billion in that time period. And without the universities, we’d develop a system like what they use in Europe for soccer and basketball - where universities have almost no influence on sports. The pro teams support farm teams and lower division teams to field talent.
Look at baseball in the US, with Little League funneling to the various levels of minor leagues.