Transfer Season

(St. Louis, MO) – It is the transfer portion of the college basketball season. Usually your opinion of hundreds of players changing programs is determined by how it has recently affected your favorite team.

Illinois State was devastated by the loss of junior-to-be, and shot blocking center Reggie Lynch to the University of Minnesota and Drake can’t wait to have their two Big Ten transfers in next season’s line-up. So in Normal, Illinois (where they also lost Nic Moore two years ago), “this transfer-itis is a disease that must be stopped,” and in Des Moines, Iowa, “it is important that student-athletes continue to have plenty of options.”

Depending on the report you read, close to 1,200 players transferred over the past two seasons and experts predict at least 400 more will change locations this year. In round numbers, close to 1,700 players will have moved to a new program since D. J. Balentine enrolled at Evansville. According to ESPN’s RPI statistics, there are 351 Division 1 college basketball teams.

I was not a math major, but that means programs are dealing with 4.75 transfers, or about 1 and a half per season. Since Geno Ford was let go at Bradley, SEVEN players left. It appears that one or two may return, but in that extreme situation you can see the devastation that can occur.

When we talk about player movement, some use the term ‘epidemic’ and others like Gary Parrish of CBS says this issue is minor. Lynch for example, deserves to pursue his education wherever he desires, and as an Edina, Minnesota native had always wanted to be a Gopher. Coming out of high school, Minnesota didn’t recruit him.

The question I have, is how did this all come about? After two very good seasons in a Redbird uniform, he chooses to transfer and play basketball for a team that didn’t want him two years prior. I would never suggest that Richard Pitino was recruiting players from another university, but how do these things take place? In either case, a rising Missouri Valley Conference team with a skilled big man, setting blocked shots records, left with seemingly no warning.

Southern Illinois loses Jordan Caroline and Deion Lavender in one week, and the heart and soul of their 2014 recruiting class is gutted.

Has the Valley become the developmental league for the ‘money conferences’? When Chris Olivier left Northern Iowa, realizing he wasn’t going to get playing time in front of Seth Tuttle, one would nod and say he made a smart choice. Olivier landed at Eastern Illinois, had a nice season with Jay Spoonhour’s CIT squad and is now transferring under the graduating senior waiver.

Coaches have to say the right thing, and Spoonhour did, but fans and traditionalists have to ask ‘where is the loyalty?’ Minnesota didn’t want Lynch and ISU did. Two good seasons and back door communications and he’s in the Big Ten. Eastern gave Olivier a chance to play and he served them well, and off he goes to greener pastures.

We never really know the personal situations of these players, and again I’m saying if I’m an EIU fan, I am ticked off and want the rules to change. If I’m a Jacksonville State fan and Cameron Biedscheid is coming in from Missouri, I think players deserve freedom of choice.

Undergraduates may transfer, but then must sit out a year before they can play. I believe this rule helps deter players from running from program to program, and allows them more time to acclimate to a new university structure and truly work on academics. In a basketball frame work, perhaps it allows their bodies to catch up with their potential. Graduating players have no such restrictions, and creates some of this madness. The new university must offer a graduate program that the former school did not possess.

In some cases, I believe that is truly the reason for the move. Call me skeptical, but I believe that is the minority of the cases. I’ve heard players and coaches hinting that they had to dig deep to find a specific program unique to the new school.

When there is a coaching change, players ought to be allowed to leave without impunity. Often the head coach is the one reason, they chose that university. Graduating students should have to sit out a season, just like the under grads. Not only is graduate work more difficult, it is often more credit hours than a typical student attempts. Why wouldn’t you give them two years to work toward that Master’s Degree, unless that isn’t truly the student athlete’s legitimate goal?

Basketball Times writer Josh Parrot notes, “…the NCAA released a study that showed only 32 percent of the 353 grad transfers in 2011 & 2012 completed their graduate degree within two years. The majority actually withdrew when their eligibility ended.”

Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo told the Denver Post, “You wonder why it’s harder to discipline kids nowadays, they’ve got 20 people telling them ‘Well if you don’t like it, just leave.’

Basketball Times editor, John Akers notes, “At least 70 graduate transfers had announced their intentions to transfer – already about 15 more than last season. This year’s list of free agents at least nine all-conference players from non-Big Five leagues who are looking for something better.”

Three of the top rebounders in the Valley have transferred. Two of them freshmen (Jordan Caroline of SIU and Josh Cunningham of Bradley) and one was MVC all defensive team member Lynch. Cunningham was on the all-freshman team after averaging 7.9 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. He was second in the Valley in that rebounding category.

I am a hypocrite on this subject. I admit it. I want the players to be loyal to their schools and teammates, but I’m glad Damarcus Croaker transferred to Murray State because I like the Racers. I was unhappy when Olivier left Northern Iowa, but happy when he landed at Eastern Illinois.

Studies tell us 33% of college students transfer and our rough numbers suggest 37% of college basketball players do the same. So maybe my hysteria is unfounded. Perhaps my ‘sky is falling’ mentality isn’t correct. As long this transfer mess would quit messing with the MVC and OVC, my blood pressure would return to normal levels.

Do Good