Cannot Falter

A little while ago, I thought Dan Wetzel was way out in left field when claiming that IU got off extremely easy, although I thought he hit on a good point that the NCAA should not have taken into account the defections and dismissals that occurred within the IU basketball program after Sampson left. This time, I think Wetzel gets it mostly right while dancing around the larger issue, and while missing a very elegant compromise solution.

Wetzel takes great issue with Randy Shannon limiting Robert Marve from transferring to not a few nearby schools, not within the conference, but initially 27 schools including the entire ACC, the entire SEC, and four in-state schools. Shannon has backed off the ban a bit, allowing a transfer to any SEC school except Florida, LSU, and Tennessee, whom he alleged tampered with Marve. And Wetzel is taking the polar opposite position:

The player should be allowed to transfer at full scholarship in conference, in state or across the street if they want.

Anything less isn’t just un-American, it’s an admission that winning is everything. There is no decent argument for this except fear of losing. This isn’t a non-compete clause for business execs, these are college students.

It’s wrong not just for the coach and athletic director who draw it up (in this case Shannon and Kirby Hocutt), but the conference commissioner (John Swofford) and NCAA president (Myles Brand) who allow it.

More after the jump… Like his comparison of IU’s punishment for recruiting violations vs. Texas Southern’s punishment for financial aid violations causing a serious student-athlete welfare issue, Wetzel makes a comparison that is a bit off-the-mark when he points out that “you never see a school prohibit someone on a theatre scholarship from transferring.” The issue with that comparison is what Wetzel doesn’t point out, namely that you won’t see a potential theatre star or their parents asking for not only a full scholarship but also a new car, a new house, a cushy job, or straight cash.

While Wetzel takes serious issue with Shannon trying to exert control over Marve has he heads out the door, he apparently has no problem with Robert’s high school coach doing the same thing with his high school students:

Marve’s high school coach says Miami won’t get any more players from his powerhouse program. Eugene Marve says every recruit should take a long look at what Shannon is really about.

And they should. Clearly at Miami you’re a piece of meat. If you’re going to go there you better hope and pray it works out. If not, they might try to bully you off to the other end of the country.

Wetzel prints in his own article and takes no issue with one of the very things transfer rules and other restrictions are designed to prevent. Here is a high school coach claiming he can control his student-athletes and prevent them from an opportunity to gain an education and play college football. If he can do that, why could he not sell them off to the highest bidder, then do it again if or when it doesn’t work out.

A better solution Considering both what Wetzel is arguing and the fact that waivers to the one-year residence requirement for football transfers have become a joke, the solution seems clear. Allow football players to use the one-time transfer exception, but allow schools to withhold it only if they do not restrict the transfer at all. A coach would thus be presented with two options: either allow a transfer to anywhere, including next door, but know that the player will not be on the field against you next fall, or keep him out of your conference or backyard, but understand that you might just see him in a bowl game in 12 months.

Allowing zero restrictions on transfer would cause an explosion in tampering with student athletes. As soon as a player is benched or loses playing time, schools from down the road and across the country would be whispering in his ear how he’s better off elsewhere. This gives the coach’s some control, but forces them to make a trade off and bargain with the kid. And it doesn’t allow parents to hold a coach hostage by threatening a transfer to a huge rival that the coach cannot prevent.

Wetzel’s comment about theatre majors is a nice ideal. One of the the NCAA’s bedrock principles is that student-athletes should be treated as much like regular students as possible. Unfortunately, through the actions of the NCAA, coaches and boosters, and student-athletes themselves, student-athletes rarely get treated the same. And to prevent some preferential treatment, student-athletes sometimes have to agree to operate under a stricter set of rules than a normal student. But Wetzel’s solution would cause a huge shift the other way and cause lots of student-athletes to choose to become the same thing that Wetzel is claiming Robert Marve is being branded as: a mercenary.

Hat tip: Hoosier Scoop