Free Agency in College Athletics:

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otis

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The NCAA is expected to pass a one-time transfer waiver for athletes in football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and ice hockey, the only sports that don't already have that policy, for the 2021-22 school year. In fact, the change likely would have been in place for the 2020 school year had the spread of COVID-19 not relegated it to a distant backburner.

The legislation would allow any athlete to transfer and compete immediately instead of sitting out a season, as is the case under the current system. It's just the latest shift that moves more power from coaches and schools to the athletes themselves.

https://buffalonews.com/sports/coll...n_752458d5-c2d1-5fcb-8ab4-3efbb9c812b8.html#1
 
Makes sense...and a game changer for us if we can take advantage of transfers the way Matt A did. Of course we got Dunn, but if CMA can grab some real impact transfers to make up for so-so recruiting out of HS, that would greatly help IMO. Can nab kids who want to be closer to home after initially being far away. By the way, do JUCO's count as transfers?
 
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I don't think this will help us as much as it could hurt.

Let's say Julian's value is much higher than when he committed to us and rather than hope for a chance at playing in the NCAA's, a top 15 team wants him right away? That sort of thing will happen to teams outside the top 25. The rich will get richer. Young teams who stock with 1 and dones can add proven experienced players that could provide the experience to put them over the top.
 
That may be true, but we need to do better and then we will keep better players. I think this hurts mid majors way more than it will hurt teams like us. We can get some top mid major guys. It's all relative but mid majors have no lower place to look for players really. If we are at least in contention for NCAA appearances on a regular basis, I think we keep a good amount here. Many of the blue bloods find ways to get top transfers eligible immediately already. Still a big move and a big change in the middle of a kid's playing career. Different dynamic, different coaches, etc. Hopefully many will stay for the family atmosphere as well. If CMA really demonstrates he can develop kids significantly each year and keeps trust of players/families then it will be a net positive for us IMO. Right now, our HS recruiting overall is bottom level Big East. Being able to pluck top mid major guys would be another way to compensate for that. It's also only a 1 time transfer rule...if a player wanted to leave, the coach would have a long talk with the player and explain that there's no going back if that's what they want. Their playing time would still be less with those types of schools most likely than here.
 
[quote="Mike Zaun" post=399269]That may be true, but we need to do better and then we will keep better players. I think this hurts mid majors way more than it will hurt teams like us. We can get some top mid major guys. It's all relative but mid majors have no lower place to look for players really. If we are at least in contention for NCAA appearances on a regular basis, I think we keep a good amount here. Many of the blue bloods find ways to get top transfers eligible immediately already. Still a big move and a big change in the middle of a kid's playing career. Different dynamic, different coaches, etc. Hopefully many will stay for the family atmosphere as well. If CMA really demonstrates he can develop kids significantly each year and keeps trust of players/families then it will be a net positive for us IMO. Right now, our HS recruiting overall is bottom level Big East. Being able to pluck top mid major guys would be another way to compensate for that. It's also only a 1 time transfer rule...if a player wanted to leave, the coach would have a long talk with the player and explain that there's no going back if that's what they want. Their playing time would still be less with those types of schools most likely than here.[/quote]

This is for the 21-22 year only at this point. We would have to have a really good year for our program to be considered worth hopping to for a star player, IMO.
 
It's possible it hurts us...but I feel like we still had tons of players transfer from us anyway before this rule. On the other hand, we've seen players buy in for a change and McGriff, while he may not be a McDonald's AA, was basically implied to not have many minutes available for him...and still opted to stay. Like I said it's all relative...you're going to have guys at Michigan going to Duke/UK also.

Michigan/Cuse/Wisconsin type players may go to Duke/UK/Virginia
Xavier/Creighton/Alabama type players may go to Michigan/Cuse/Wisconsin
Dayton/Wichita St type players may go to Xavier/Creighton/Bama

And so on...
 
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[quote="Beast of the East" post=399270][quote="Mike Zaun" post=399269]That may be true, but we need to do better and then we will keep better players. I think this hurts mid majors way more than it will hurt teams like us. We can get some top mid major guys. It's all relative but mid majors have no lower place to look for players really. If we are at least in contention for NCAA appearances on a regular basis, I think we keep a good amount here. Many of the blue bloods find ways to get top transfers eligible immediately already. Still a big move and a big change in the middle of a kid's playing career. Different dynamic, different coaches, etc. Hopefully many will stay for the family atmosphere as well. If CMA really demonstrates he can develop kids significantly each year and keeps trust of players/families then it will be a net positive for us IMO. Right now, our HS recruiting overall is bottom level Big East. Being able to pluck top mid major guys would be another way to compensate for that. It's also only a 1 time transfer rule...if a player wanted to leave, the coach would have a long talk with the player and explain that there's no going back if that's what they want. Their playing time would still be less with those types of schools most likely than here.[/quote]

This is for the 21-22 year only at this point. We would have to have a really good year for our program to be considered worth hopping to for a star player, IMO.[/quote]

There has been serious talk at the NCAA level for awhile about allowing a one time transfer without need for a waiver a permanent policy. Probably a good idea because there has been no rhyme or reason as to why a particular player gets or is denied a waiver.

This would be great for the players but a major headache for coaches in terms of roster management. I can't imagine how a coach would react if he is "blindsided" by an unexpected transfer at the 11th hour with no opportunity to recruit a suitable replacement.
 
[quote="MarkRedman" post=399272][quote="Beast of the East" post=399270][quote="Mike Zaun" post=399269]That may be true, but we need to do better and then we will keep better players. I think this hurts mid majors way more than it will hurt teams like us. We can get some top mid major guys. It's all relative but mid majors have no lower place to look for players really. If we are at least in contention for NCAA appearances on a regular basis, I think we keep a good amount here. Many of the blue bloods find ways to get top transfers eligible immediately already. Still a big move and a big change in the middle of a kid's playing career. Different dynamic, different coaches, etc. Hopefully many will stay for the family atmosphere as well. If CMA really demonstrates he can develop kids significantly each year and keeps trust of players/families then it will be a net positive for us IMO. Right now, our HS recruiting overall is bottom level Big East. Being able to pluck top mid major guys would be another way to compensate for that. It's also only a 1 time transfer rule...if a player wanted to leave, the coach would have a long talk with the player and explain that there's no going back if that's what they want. Their playing time would still be less with those types of schools most likely than here.[/quote]

This is for the 21-22 year only at this point. We would have to have a really good year for our program to be considered worth hopping to for a star player, IMO.[/quote]

There has been serious talk at the NCAA level for awhile about allowing a one time transfer without need for a waiver a permanent policy. Probably a good idea because there has been no rhyme or reason as to why a particular player gets or is denied a waiver.

This would be great for the players but a major headache for coaches in terms of roster management. I can't imagine how a coach would react if he is "blindsided" by an unexpected transfer at the 11th hour with no opportunity to recruit a suitable replacement.[/quote]

I think its good for the players, but bad for the competitive nature of D1 basketball, which certainly has its problems in terms of equitable competitiveness.
 
This will allow the elite programs to restock quickly when defections to the Pro ranks occur.
 
To play this transfer game well you need a staff member who is adept and under radar “prospector”. These guys don’t wait until kids announce intention to leave a school. The merchants who play this game well keep an eye on kids they may have unsuccessfully recruited, stay in contact with the players’ AAU coaches or advisors to gauge how happy they are. In some cases families are also contacted in creative ways during the player’s season. Slimy business about to get slimier with some schools better equipped financially and personnel wise to play transfer game proficiently.
 
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[quote="Paultzman" post=399277]To play this transfer game well you need a staff member who is adept and under radar “prospector”. These guys don’t wait until kids announce intention to leave a school. The merchants who play this game well keep an eye on kids they may have unsuccessfully recruited, stay in contact with the players’ AAU coaches or advisors to gauge how happy they are. In some cases families are also contacted in creative ways during the player’s season. Slimy business about to get slimier with some schools better equipped financially and personnel wise to play transfer game proficiently.[/quote]

I call that move, “The Figueroa”...
 
My sense is that this is a trial run. If it doesn't get out of hand it will get extended. If it does get out of hand the NCAA will make an adjustment(s) to the rule. At first glance ,I'm not a fan of doing this permanently, but I'll take my usual "wait and see" attitude.
 
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If Nebraska doesn't make a big jump as a result of this, I'm not sure anything really kick-starts that program into a consistent winner.
 
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