Hardwood Hot Takes: Fixing college basketball’s transfer problem

There’s only one Hardwood hot take this week but it is one that could revolutionize college basketball as we know it and benefit all parties involved.

Let them play.

Every season, players from around the country leave the school they originally committed to in hopes of finding somewhere else that they can get whatever it is they feel they are lacking at their original school. Some want more playing time. Others are looking for exposure. There are those that need to be closer to their families due to unfortunate circumstances.

Despite this being a common occurrence in all collegiate sports, the NCAA has mandated that in college basketball (and four other sports) any athlete that transfers must sit out for an entire season unless they have graduated from their previous school or receive a waiver from the NCAA.

However, as time has passed, more and more kids are transferring. From 2006-2016, ESPN reported the number of players transferring from Division 1 schools jumped from 200 players all the way up to 700. We haven’t even gotten to the NCAA Tournament yet and already there are upwards of 140 players who have entered the transfer portal this year.

Kobe King turned a lot of heads this season when he announced he was leaving Wisconsin in the middle of the season. Originally he was lambasted for “quitting on his team” but once the reason for his decision was made public people were more open to his choice.

To the NCAA’s credit, they have been good on not punishing the player in cases like King’s.

Mistreatment isn’t the only reason players leave schools. We’ve seen all types of reasoning behind why players are opting to continue their playing careers at other universities.

It’s impacting names with ties to basketball royalty too. Shareef O’Neal, son of Shaquille O’Neal, opted to leave California after two years and is now following in his father’s footsteps by transferring to LSU LSU. Georgetown thought to bring back Patrick Ewing to coach the team would be the shot in the arm needed to get the program back to its elite status of the 1980s and 1990s. Yet, the Hoyas have seen four players leave the program, including two James Akinjo and Josh LeBlanc who were thought to be core pieces.

In the end, the NCAA’s biggest problem hasn’t been the mass exodus of players, it’s been the inconsistent decisions regarding the players that do or do not receive a waiver.

A recent proposal by the NCAA’s Transfer Waiver Working Group to the Division 1 Council to allow one-time transfers — where players can switch schools once without having to sit out the following season — is a step in the right direction. It gives the students the ability to make a move that is better for them without fully opening Pandora’s box.

It’s not the first time the NCAA has made a change to its transfer rules. In 2018, the NCAA made a change to the transfer policy that allowed the NCAA to determine the eligibility of transfers on a case-by-case basis.

The burden of proof on the athlete was to show that there were “documented mitigating circumstances outside of the student-athletes control and directly impacts the health, safety or well-being of the student-athlete.”

Though the changes seemed like a good idea, the results have been shaky at best. Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo was so upset with the committee ruling against giving Marquette transfer, Joey Hauser, he resigned from the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board of Directors.

Hauser told The Detroit Free-Press, “When we filed the appeal, I was planning on not playing this year. … It’s something we looked into, and it got my hopes up a little bit. You never know. Some guys get it, some guys don’t.”

Instead of it being “some guys get it, some guys don’t”, the NCAA should allow every player — regardless of the sport — to get a one-time waiver. Meaning if a player elects to transfer they would then be immediately eligible for the following year. The Big Ten and ACC (two of the bigger conferences in all college sports) have already come out in support of this idea.

Coaches, players and fans aren’t the only ones displeased with the current state of how transfers are handled in college basketball. The commissioner of the Mid-American Conference and working group chair Jon Steinbrenner said to NCAA.com, “The current system is unsustainable. Working group members believe it’s time to bring our transfer rules more in line with today’s college landscape.”

My two cents, let the kids play. Whenever the NCAA tries to dissuade people from thinking their athletes should get paid the company line is that they’re student-athletes. It’s hypocritical to use that line of thinking to deny them pay but then treat them differently when they want to do something that every other student gets the freedom to do by changing schools.

The one “free” transfer idea is the best compromise available to both sides. It allows players to leave and not have to miss time but it also keeps it from becoming a total free-for-all and introducing the concept of free agency into college basketball.

It’ll be a roller coaster at the start and will definitely take some trial-and-error before it’s ironclad and done right. But this is better than the alternative, which is continuing to be looked down upon as the lowest rung on the sports ladder in terms of how their athletes are treated.

We all witnessed the brief popularity bump the NCAA received when they were forced into even considering possibly paying players, which unsurprisingly they are trying to weasel out of through the Senate.

They have a chance now to get out in front of this latest issue. Some good publicity right before what is shaping up to be a memorable NCAA Tournament would be a godsend for NCAA president Dr. Mark Emmert.

For more NCAA basketball news, analysis, opinion and features, check out more from the FanSided college basketball section to stay on top of the latest action.