The NCAA has been working hard to come up with a solution to the transfer epidemic that is overwhelming college basketball.
The Transfer working group has proposed giving immediate eligibility to transfers who meet specific academic standards that they will present to the Committee of Academics to evaluate this month.
The group has not come up with academic benchmark but the proposals include increasing penalties for tampering with a potential transfer, offering full aid to postgraduate transfer through their graduate programs and eliminating a school’s power to restrict transfers to certain schools.
The proposal to offer transfers one-time immediate eligibility to transfers who meet academic standards will come up for a vote next month.
Don’t expect college basketball coaches to be happy with this idea. Scott Drew told ESPN “It would be the worst rule out there. It would be the wild, wild west.’’
Most Division I coaches do not have the luxury of bringing in one and done players, like Kentucky, Duke and UCLA. They want their players to develop within their program. But there is a fear that any player who feels he or she is not getting immediate playing time could leave, leading to constant poaching by other schools.
According to NCAA statistics, 40 percent of all men’s basketball who enter Division I director out of high school depart their initial school by the end of their sophomore year. More than 700 Division I college basketball players transferred during the past year. There are 352 school. Do the match. Division I schools lose an average of two players per year, transferring to other schools.
The working group would also like to eliminate the rule that causes a player who contacts another school without receiving permission from his or her current school to forego financial aid during the first year at their new school.
