NCAA Basketball Graduate Transfers Stir Controversy

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Coming out of Phoebus High four years ago, James Daniel couldn't get a sniff from a big school like Tennessee.

A slight, 5-foot-11 guard, his only scholarship offers were from Howard and Holy Cross.

He chose Howard and made the most of it, leading the nation in scoring two seasons ago by averaging 27.1 points per game. Injured last season, he took a medical redshirt year while finishing his degree in sociology.

With a year of eligibility remaining, he did what an increasing number of college basketball players are doing: He entered the graduate transfer market. The experience was nothing like his recruitment coming out of high school.

"It was totally opposite - very intense," he said. "I probably had 60 high-major offers."

Daniel will play for the Volunteers this coming season, taking his attacking offensive style to the Southeastern Conference. He just as easily could have wound up in the ACC, the Big East or any other power conference.

"It's a testament to my hard work and the dedication I put into my game," he said. "Plus, my head coach (Kevin Nickleberry) giving me that freedom."

Daniel is the beneficiary of a form of free agency available to players who graduate with eligibility left. Originally intended to reward academic high-achievers by allowing them to pursue a master's degree in a program that may not be offered at their undergraduate school, the grad transfer rule has become controversial.

Often, it's less about books than ball, the NCAA has admitted.

"… Data have emerged showing that many transfers ... earn few graduate credits and leave school when their athletic eligibility expires," the NCAA published in a study last year on the prevalence of Division I grad transfers.

The study noted that the rule has been most controversial in men's basketball and football due to "high-profile" cases. Grad transfers have been a particularly hot topic in basketball, where the loss or addition of a single player can have far more impact than in football.

"Worst rule in history of college basketball"

Critics have cited the damage done to low- and mid-major programs, which can spend years developing players only to have them poached by bigger schools.

Kentucky coach John Calipari has called the rule "awful for mid-major coaches." Iowa's Fran McCaffery went further, calling it "the worst rule in the history of college basketball."

Advocates, however, say that if student-athletes keep up their end of the bargain by earning their undergrad degrees, they should be free to go wherever they like without penalty, just as coaches can.

Old Dominion coach Jeff Jones, the outgoing president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, said the issue of transfers in general has been a "major source of conversation" among coaches in recent years. Grad transfers, which are becoming more prevalent each year, are part of that discussion.

"Coaches get fired," after losing players to larger schools, Jones said, citing Drexel's Bruiser Flint and Cleveland State's Gary Waters. Flint lost star player Damion Lee to Louisville and was fired the next season. Waters lost star players to Michigan State, Louisville and Wichita State over three seasons and resigned under pressure.

Jones said about 25 percent of grad transfers move from a low- or mid-major school to a larger one. About 48 percent transfer laterally, while 26 percent transfer down to a smaller school, usually in search of more playing time.

"Up" transfers are the most controversial, and potentially the most costly for smaller schools.

"Reportedly, there are high-major programs that literally have a board (listing) kids that could potentially come out as graduate transfers," Jones said. "That gets into the whole issue of tampering."

The market is a bit of a free-for-all. Unlike undergraduate transfers, grad transfers don't need a release from their schools before other schools can contact them. They need only declare their intention to leave.

McCaffery told Iowa's WHBF TV he's heard of schools tampering with players on other teams and of middle men looking for money as they shop transfers.

In some ways, the NCAA is a victim of its own success. The increase in grad transfers is in part an unintended consequence of higher graduation rates since the implementation of the Academic Progress Rate, a measuring stick that ensures athletes are progressing toward a degree.

With more students graduating with eligibility remaining, more are leaving. In a list complied this month, the website SBNation.com tracked the status of 123 grad transfers. That's up from 68 in 2015 and just 15 in 2011.

Jones said he's heard from coaches who are rethinking whether to send players to summer school. By not going, they'll slow down their timetable for graduation, making them less prone to leaving.

Tribe coach no fan of the transfer rule

William & Mary coach Tony Shaver said he's reconsidering his approach to redshirting after losing a key player this offseason.

Jack Whitman, a 6-9 forward who averaged 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds as a redshirt junior last season, graduated and transferred to Kansas. His departure leaves the Tribe, at this late date, with just one returning post player.

Shaver said he didn't want to talk about Whitman specifically. But in general, he's not a fan of the grad transfer rule.

"The only thing I would say there is I think it's a great compliment to our program that schools like Kansas, the best schools in the country, would want the guys we've developed," he said.

"The hard thing is, you spend four years educating and developing these players, and their last year, which should be their best, they're going to play somewhere else."

Whitman, who also heard from North Carolina, was a classic developmental case. After redshirting as a freshman, he averaged 2.3 points in 2014-15 and 3.3 in 2015-16 before having a breakout season last year.

He was one of the first players Shaver redshirted. At William & Mary's level, it's an important developmental tool, he said.

"We're not always going to get the best players out there, so we've got to develop them," he said. "It's a little bit of a body blow to have one leave."

Shaver said he doesn't see the rule as equitable because not all schools can take advantage of it. He's never taken a grad transfer and doesn't see them as a realistic option at a school such as William & Mary with high academic standards.

"If we had one, that young guy has to get into the grad program on his own. We can't help him," Shaver said. "Our grad schools are the real deal so they fill up quickly. All of a sudden in July, you can't say, 'I want to sign this grad transfer.' "

Shaver acknowledges the argument that players who have graduated should be free to go where they like. Still, he'd like to see all transfers be required to sit out a year.

Jones said there's been talk of requiring teams to commit a scholarship for two years when taking a grad transfer. After all, many master's degree programs are two years, never mind that the NCAA reports that just 34 percent of transfers get a master's.

ODU has taken advantage of the rule. In 2014-15, the Monarchs signed George Mason grad transfer Jonathan Arledge. This fall, they'll have Wake Forest transfer Greg McClinton for a year.

Beginning next season, the NCAA will require grad transfers to complete six hours of credit toward a degree in each term. But if a player leaves before earning a degree, it won't hurt the school's APR.

Meanwhile, the NCAA has created a "Division I transfer working group" to study all transfer issues. Jones noted that all sports besides basketball, football and baseball have a one-time transfer exception that allows players to leave without penalty.

He doesn't want to see punitive measures taken against players, but added: "If you just have free agency? My God."

Daniel sees his transfer as a win-win for Howard and for him. He said he was transparent with his coaches, letting them know he was looking to play at a higher level.

Howard received a lot of publicity when he led the nation in scoring, and he's always quick to credit the program for helping to make him the player he became, he said. Nicknamed "J-Bird," he had the green light to attempt 19.4 shots a game as a junior.

"My whole time there, I gave it all I possibly could for the university, and they gave me all they could," he said.

In the end, he had nothing more to prove at that level, he said. At Tennessee, he'll get a chance to chase bigger dreams and pursue a master's degree in higher education administration.

"I can see it both ways," he said. "I could see how some coaches could say, 'You owe me; I've done so much for you.' But a coach can leave any day.

"I think it all works out for the best."

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May 31, 2017
 
 
 

 

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