REPORTING FROM: ADIDAS TRACK AND FIELD CLASSIC IN LOS ANGELES

She just did it when she thought she was good enough. Which was about two months ago. After winning the NCAA indoor 200-meter title, Knight decided the time was right to earn a living9so she quit the University of Texas track team, gave up her scholarship, and signed with an agent. "I'd always wanted to get paid for what I love doing, which is track," Knight says.

On Sunday, the 19-year-old (yes, she's younger than Mayo) Mississippi native will compete against the world¹s best sprinters in the Adidas Track and Field Classic in Los Angeles, with a shoe deal in her portfolio and her eye on the U.S. Olympic team. "From my junior year in high school, I considered turning pro after my freshman year in college because it was an Olympic year," Knight said. "My coach in high school always said if the time was right and the money was right, I should do it. It just so happened that the time was perfect and the money was there."

The time was right because she smoked the 200-meter field at the NCAA indoor championships in 22.4 seconds, the second fastest American indoor time ever. She knew she had a shot at making the Olympic team, but she didn't want to wear herself out before the U.S. trials in June.

After about two weeks of filling out forms to make sure she was in compliance with NCAA rules, Knight got her first contract with Adidas. In a perfect world, she thinks athletes should be able to do that while competing for their schools. "I always thought that I wanted to represent Gatorade and things like that, and it was like, 'Oh, no, you have to be a professional first,'" she says. "I do think that college athletes should be able to do some of those things. As far as getting houses and cars, no. But sponsorships, yes. If your school was representing Adidas or Nike, for you to be able to do a commercial for them and get paid for it, that would help with the problem of people taking gifts and doing things on the side."

Turning pro hasn't hurt her running. Earlier this month, Knight beat defending Olympic champion Veronica Campbell in the 200 in Campbell's home country of Jamaica.

Hasn't hindered her brain, either. After shocking the world, Knight went back to Austin to finish up 12 credits worth of freshman-year finals. She likes earning a living. "It felt like a dream for a little while," she says. "But now I realize that I worked hard for this and I deserve it."

Makes you wonder when the NCAA will realize the same thing about its football and basketball players.

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