The best preschool lesson is sharing.

It leads to caring about others, eliminating envy and everyone having a chance at success.

Without it, you have the current state of college athletics.

A football playoff that is tilted to the elite, the poaching of other teams’ talent, escalating payments to players, and the race to build facilities are what happens when people do not learn to share.

Back in the day, it would have been easy to slice the proverbial pie. Back then, student-athletes received scholarships that covered tuition, room and board, books and … that was it. No quarters for the washing machine, no parking passes, no extra cash to pay for the share of pizza on bye weekends. Players couldn’t accept rides from coaches on rainy nights.

When a prospect signed with a Division I program, the student-athlete essentially had a non-compete clause. If a coach left or a parent became ill, a player could transfer but was forced to sit out a season before being eligible to play at the second school.

And while coaches received fatter and fatter paychecks, student-athletes did not receive a dime from sales of the replica jerseys with their numbers. Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan signed thousands of helmets, shirts, cards and arms, and all it made him was late for training-table breakfast.

But just like the Apple warranties we didn’t purchase, it would have saved a lot in the long run to spend a little in insurance.

In 2013, several Northwestern University football players sought to unionize. The intent was to be recognized as university employees who could bargain collectively. Northwestern successfully argued that unionizing was not the “appropriate” method to address concerns by student-athletes. In hindsight, allowing the players to unionize would have been the appropriate choice. The players were, in essence, employees who were required to practice, train, play and behave in exchange for a scholarship. Their demands, at the time, would have been for improved medical care and guarantees that a scholarship would be good for more than one year. And the composition of the membership would have changed because there is natural roster turnover every year. While unionizing failed, the move further fueled student-athletes nationally to seek their just due.

In 2009, former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon filed an anti-trust lawsuit challenging the NCAA’s use of the images and likenesses of former college college basketball and football players for commercial purposes. It stemmed from O’Bannon not being compensated for his unnamed avatar being used in a video game.

Through the years, O’Bannon’s suit led to current student-athletes being able to cash in on use of their name, image and likeness. With the coinciding rule that allows players to transfer without sitting out, student-athletes are now enjoying all the benefits of free agency. In an open market, players can command the most compensation and, since scholarships are not no-compete, five-year contracts, can re-enter free agency the next year. Some players have been committed to two schools before playing their first college game.

Non-power football conferences have complained about poaching attempts from bigger programs. While it would be better to go in order — leave a school and then seek another one — free market is not always fair. Even mid-major basketball teams are finding that prospects or transfers seeking six-figure NIL deals are part of the recruiting discussions.

The observation used to be that coaches were making more than medical school deans and university presidents. Now some players are making more than coaches.

All of this could have been handled much, much earlier. Players will receive compensation for their NIL usage in the EA Sports College Football 25, which has been resurrected this week. If they were paid in 2013, the video game would not have gone on an 11-year hiatus.

But the money chase will continue. At some point, the NCAA will ask the NFL to compensate the organization for training and developing future pro players. And, at some point, student-athletes will want a cut of the lucrative TV deals. If a walk-on actor can be paid for a seven-second cameo on a TV show, how much is a star quarterback worth for a 3 1/2-hour appearance in a playoff game?

The lesson: share early or pay later.