Jim Calhoun on transfers

[David 76]

What bull!
First of all the kids don't get a four year scholarship. They get one at a time.
And all the coaches (including JC) have made it clear to certain players that their future is dim if they stay at Coach's college. So, forced out transfers are OK and it is only bad when it hurts the poor coach.
Let's compromise and make 4 year scholarships mandatory for player and coach. And neither can leave.
Sheesh!

 

[Gringo]

Crazy how many people are saying JC would indulge in transfers if he were still coaching. Ya, he concedes that multiple times in the article. That doesn't mean he likes the trend.

You managed to contradict yourself in consecutive sentences. Not easy to do. I think it's your Rick James moment.

 

[DogMania]

yeah disagree... two of our transfers have a 5th year and are continuing their education... another one the coach he committed to left and he didnt want to follow him... it's a huge decision for kids out of high school and maybe it turns out that it's a bad choice after a year it's understandable to leave...

Add to that...though someone might have already brought this up...Miller would have liked to stay at Cornell but Ivy league rules prohibit such. UConn simply provided a nice new home for him so that he could take advantage of playing that 4th season of college hoops. As for Gibbs, he's getting out of what seems to be a serious dysfunctional environment at SH. I can understand that this 5th year transfer thing being completely appropriate for some legit student athletes that want to go to grad school but also take advantage of that 4th season that they deserve. I'm sort of on the shelf about the ones that simply want greener pastures so are taking advantage of the rule at the expense of the program that recruited them and the fans that have rooted for them. I really don't know what changes they could make. To make them sit out a season when they already have had to sit out due to taking some sort of red-shirt year may it have been medical or otherwise, just doesn't seem fair either. Making the stay at that program or forfeit that 4th season if they go elsewhere doesn't seem fair either, especially if the current school is not the best grad program situation for them.

IMO, this is one of those it is what it is and let's just make the most of it. I really don't see all that much down side other than a program losing a player that they gave a non-medical red-shirt season and then not being able to take advantage of that decision. Maybe simply changing the rule that if the 5th year is the result of a non-medical red-shirt year, then make them sit out a year to take that 5th where they are, but if it's a medical red-shirt situation, not make them sit out. What do you think about that idea?

 

[DogMania]

Dom Amore did a more thorough job than Borges from the same event.
http://www.courant.com/sports/college/hc-franciscan-banquet-0603-20150602-story.html

Calhoun (and Howie D) were commenting on transfers in general, and the fact that there were 750 of them last year. That is a big number.

750 is a surprisingly huge number. I know there are a lot of programs and a lot of players at those programs but to have 750 who sat out a season as a medical or non-medical red-shirt is an eye popping number. Is this an anomaly or a growing trend? As I noted in my other post, one change they could do is make the non-medical red-shirted 5th year players sit out a year since the program gave them that red-shirt year, may it be voluntarily or mandatory in the case of an undergraduate transfer. That program has invested time and money into that student athlete in those two cases and it would seem right for the player to reward that program with that 5th year. Now if that school doesn't have the grad program they want, they can go elsewhere but have to sit out a year before getting to play that 4th season.

Hum...realizing that many of the 750 are probably transferring for a second time...as to how many that would be interesting to find out...that number doesn't seem quite as big as I thought considering how many undergraduates seem to transfer each year. UConn seems to lose 1 or 2 each year. I wonder what the average of undergrad transfers per team is each year. How many D1 teams are there? I just looked up an RPI ranking list and there were 351 ranked programs. I had no idea that there were so many. Let's just say on average it's 1.5 players per team, I'm guessing it might be more than that. That's 421 undergraduate transfers in any given year, leaving just 329 who sat out a season due to injury or voluntary non-medical red-shirt, which still seems like a big number. I know the 5th year rule is relatively new, but doesn't it seem that the number of 5th year transfers went from a small number to a fricken huge one this past year?

 

[2Husky]

750 is a surprisingly huge number.

750 is all transfers. there were only 50 graduate students, its pretty rare and there is no justification for limiting someone who graduates from continuing their education where they see fit, even if their primary reason is basketball. 700 undergrads is a lot would like to see it reduced and i think you do that by changing recruiting. I hope the NCAA is surveying the transfers to try to figure whats really going on. I suspect there are a lot of different factors, but many boil down to it not being a good match. I would also like to know how many are because the coach (or assistants) left.

I'm sort of on the shelf about the ones that simply want greener pastures so are taking advantage of the rule at the expense of the program that recruited them and the fans that have rooted for them. I really don't know what changes they could make. To make them sit out a season when they already have had to sit out due to taking some sort of red-shirt year may it have been medical or otherwise, just doesn't seem fair either. Making the stay at that program or forfeit that 4th season if they go elsewhere doesn't seem fair either, especially if the current school is not the best grad program situation for them.

IMO, this is one of those it is what it is and let's just make the most of it. I really don't see all that much down side other than a program losing a player that they gave a non-medical red-shirt season and then not being able to take advantage of that decision. Maybe simply changing the rule that if the 5th year is the result of a non-medical red-shirt year, then make them sit out a year to take that 5th where they are, but if it's a medical red-shirt situation, not make them sit out. What do you think about that idea?

I don't understand why a student graduating and pursuing another degree elsewhere is somehow at the expense of the original school/fans. The school didn't provide anything they couldn't have gotten anywhere else, otherwise it would be an NCAA violation. Scholarships are 1 year renewable, and coaches often push players out so I don't understand why the student should have a multiyear obligation to the school, when the school has basically no obligation to the student. The student did what they were supposed to on and off the court while they were a student. Both sides satisfied their obligations to each other and if the school is interested in the student continuing after graduation they can make their case. Leaving after graduation is what is supposed to happen. There is nothing stopping fans from continuing to root for that player if they pursue a graduate degree, just like many fans root for former players who are in the NBA.

 

[J187Money]

You'd like it to be less. But what are you going to do? It's like marrying someone after 4 dates under circumstances that aren't real (courtship phase).

When the players choose to leave I'm good with it. I just don't like it when coaches push players out.

 

[2Husky]

You'd like it to be less. But what are you going to do? It's like marrying someone after 4 dates under circumstances that aren't real (courtship phase).

When the players choose to leave I'm good with it. I just don't like it when coaches push players out.

I'm doing all I can, complaining on message boards. I'm also ok with players choosing to leave, I'd like it to be fewer because I feel like players who transfer and sit a year for the most part are worse off, than if they had ended up at the right school in the first place. I also think players develop faster when they can play in real games and not just practices so that redshirt year isn't good for a player, unless they can use it to rehab an injury that would have caused them to miss time anyway.

 

[J187Money]

I'm doing all I can, complaining on message boards. I'm also ok with players choosing to leave, I'd like it to be fewer because I feel like players who transfer and sit a year for the most part are worse off, than if they had ended up at the right school in the first place. I also think players develop faster when they can play in real games and not just practices so that redshirt year isn't good for a player, unless they can use it to rehab an injury that would have caused them to miss time anyway.

Clearly in a lot of these cases players are compounding bad decisions with more bad decisions. But we live in a free country. And these kids are young and a lot of them are immature. I don't like restricting freedom of movement, and agree there should be a penalty for undergrads. I think the year off is fair.

 

[joober jones]

Maybe he's referring to the fan experience as far as us emotionally investing in players and watching them grow for 3-4 years before leaving for the NBA or graduating. Mind you, that isn't my stance and I surely don't think that hurts the sport, I'm just wondering if that's one of the things Coach Calhoun has on his mind.

 

[breezy]

You managed to contradict yourself in consecutive sentences. Not easy to do. I think it's your Rick James moment.

JC: "If I were still coaching I'd take transfers"
The BY: "I disagree, if JC were still coaching he'd take transfers"

 

[David 76]

No
The BY: Kids deserve to be able to leave a bad situation and to move on after graduating

JC should know better than to raise this issue immediately after his protege takes 3 "transfers"