The world of transfers

[fjs64]

Why so many transfers? Why are kids leaving the school that they initially committed to? Obviously there are lots of reasons. We even have three (Xavier Smith, Iakeem Alston & Jalen Adams....Gathers is another (fitting into the "I graduated and now I can go anywhere category)). I can't spell out the reasons our guys are leaving so I won't discuss it, instead I want to look at transfers in general, and I will use Khalil Dukes in particular.

Dukes is a Connecticut kid, Hartford to be specific. Here is a kid that was considered mid-major

blog.ctnews.com/uconnbasketball/2012/07/29/kahlil-dukes-commits-to-usc-adds-to-growing-number-of-ct-hoops-stars/

but he got an offer from USC (the California one). Why did he go? Did his AAU coaches push for it? Did family? Did his High School coach? Did he like the idea of going to Southern California, the weather, the girls, the lifestyle. What drives a kid? Of course these kids think that they can do it.....they have never failed before, the AAU coaches want that "notch on their belt", so no one tells him to really think about the choice, about the distance from family, or is the lifestyle really right for the kid. No, the desire is to go as high as you can, whether it is right or not. So Khalil Dukes after 2 years is transferring, to a mid-major, where hopefully he has reached the level where he should have been from the beginning. We will now play against him, as he will now be a Purple Eagle.

Kids go to places that are so wrong for them. Going to some of the southern states is like going to a different country, Alabama, Mississippi, even Tennessee. Especially for kids who have not had the social advantages, adjustment is difficult, heck it is difficult if you are better prepared. Tuscalosa or Auburn in Alabama, or put a Canadian kid in Knoxville.....adjustment is tough.

The kids want playing time, after 2 years the "writing is on the wall", better kids coming in, the coaches say they should consider playing at a different level, uncomfort sets in, homesickness, even health issues (Micah Mason from Drake to Duquesne after 1 year). The bigger schools do not have the time to allow development, so if you don't reach goals out you go. Transfers will continue, as kids try to overcome mistakes, and it will not get better. I guess we need to accept this world of transfers, as this game we love is changing.

[ceharv]

FJS - good points, but how about adding this? - as you note often, they're kids, and what do kids do? They make mistakes. I suggest kids are often so anxious to get away from home at 17 that they can't or won't realize how much they'll miss it when they are away from home. They just don't have the experience to foresee that, so moving far away to a place that looks exotic or different seems the thing to do. Having the awareness that "it might not be the best thing for me" is rare in a teenager. Think of the number of adults who move away then return to home or nearby in their twenties or even thirties. In fact it may be more surprising that there are not more transfers every year.

[Eagle]

It is my sense that there are several culprits that have unwittingly conspired to include:

Coaching Greed
The astronomical salaries for coaches and assistant coaches at the schools are irrational and that irrationality leads to irrational behavior with cheating being practiced and accepted by al to preserve their incomes.
The need to win to stay employed resulted in the “Hardship Rule” which was rescinded effective next year. Basically it allowed a plyer with unusual personal hardship to transfer back home and play. Of course this morphed into a path to run kids off and in doing so opened up a new scholarship thus allowing coaches to run of over-recruited players (Dukes) and create a new opening to land a superior talent.

NCAA Greed.
The NCAA has become a rubber stamp for the large programs in order to retain their membership and support. The point is they will do anything to protect their fiefdoms as well and the hell with the athletes or philosophical benchmarks. Recall “what’s good for US steel is good for America”. The NCAA’s philosophy is now “what’s good for the state university systems is good for college sports”.

Really? I had dinner last week with Frank Layden and mentioned that in the NBA there were 350 jobs…350 and maybe 30-40 become available every year…so 10,000 athletes going after 30-40 jobs? That model doesn’t work. Interestingly, Mikes Brand, former head of the NCAA did a report about 10 years ago and the summary was remarkable: Presidents at major universities had no control over their athletic departments.

Player Greed and AAU Coaches Greed:
Every DI athlete receives the opportunity for a quality education. That many pass this opportunity up is astounding (see the 10K in job applicants for 30-40 jobs in the NCAA), However, the average benefit is somewhere around $40K per year or $160K for four years and this is after tax…so about $200K in benefits….and now they want to be paid on top of that? And legislators like Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri) org agrees that student athletes should be paid so they can go home? They could have chosen a school near home; total BS in my book and the best retort to that issue was by someone on this board who opined “why not just give the players what was promised, an education?” It makes far too much sense for serious consideration.

BTW, don’t buy into the graduation rates. It is common knowledge many of the big schools contact alums who never came close to graduating, award college credit for “lifetime achievement” and then award degrees allowing them to pump up their graduation rates.

Finally the AAU coaches and their corporate sponsors, the big sneaker companies, throw money and the AAU coaches gladly accept to direct kids to different programs with education being the last consideration.

Summary & recommendations:
The situation stinks and the NCAA and major universities have created a culture and environment where accountability and responsibility are nowhere to be found, in fact, no one is even looking.

The remedy, of course, is Congressional action, another oxymoron. Perhaps the Ivy League and Patriot League as well as some DIII’s can make some noise and request a total revamp.

To get someone to change, of course, requires their attention. Since most of the big state universities are research universities perhaps Title IX legislation restricting federal funding to universities where coaches/AD’s and oversight boards and associations (NCAA) are paid more than the average pay for a professor might gain traction.

Of course all would complain loudly….but in the end no one would leave. What are they going to go, go to med school? Design a new drug to end cancer?

It’s a carnival and they are carnival actors and outside the carnival there would be little call for their services.

And oh, the big incomes big time sports produce, well, without the universities 1) income would be impossible so the funds (even the private funds should go to the university system, including DIII’s) and 2) the admission prices which now reflect affordability for only the wealthy should also be capped and reduced so that local fans can afford to go and watch the teams they have been supporting for decades.

[Hermit]

Eagle

You are being very narrow minded in thinking that the NBA is the only pro job out there. There are pro leagues all over the world. There are Bonnie players, who I never thought would go pro.....that are having good careers overseas. Ask coach Schmdt what his goal is for his players........to go pro!
Bremer made some big bucks .....BIG bucks, overseas.
I'm of the thinking......if only the rest of Bonaventure was run as well as the basketball team......maybe there wouldn't be so many problems down there......

[Eagle]

You are being very narrow minded in thinking that the NBA is the only pro job out there.

Right you are Hermit, mea culpa.

But you get the point, there are a lot more players than there are jobs and to my way of thinking it is a university's obligation to provide an education and collegiate experience that lasts a lifetime. I just think the whole thing is out of whack but that so many who profit from the imbalances it is very challenging to remedy....but that doesn't mean we should stop trying.