Have you guys heard anything about the new NCAA transfer rule that says if you have graduated and still have a year left of eligibilty that you can transfer to another Div1 school and play right away. Supposedly Richard Kovalecheck a QB at Arizona has done this and will play for Vanderbilt next fall? While I can't imagine superstars or guys who expect to play at their current school in their 5th year transfering, I certainly could see guys who have not played much or don't expect to get much playing time as 5th year seniors giving it a go at another school. It's just sort of odd. Terry
From the article I read, it even slipped by many of the coaches. Supposedly there is a movement undeway to try and have this rule revolked. While I understand the intent, I do not think many people realized exactly what they were exposing and the possisble consequences. Don
This is a legitimate question because it's the first I've heard of the rule: What are the potential consequences?
I found an article about it. They give another of example, the leading scorer in Div 1 basketball last year is a kid from Towsan State who graduated in May. He's now a free agent and supposedly being courted by UConn and other big Div 1 schools. I can see why a kid like that might want to jump to UConn if he has the same level of success he could vault into the NBA draft maybe even a 1st rounder, where as his draft chances comming from Towson State are probably not nearly as good. New NCAA Rule Terry
So.......Referring to Terry's description of the Towson State kid, is that a bad thing? Don's post portrayed the rule as having negative consequences. I'm mentally lazy and don't want to use what little brainpower I have to think it through. Can someone explain to me what the potential ngative consequences are?
The obvious intent of the rule is that if a STUDENT (?) has finished his undergraduate studies can he then do graduate work at another school without being tied to one institution by his scholarship. In theory it probably allows the palyer the option of avoiding the ballroom dancing semester. In practice it is a real headache to coaches who might end up redshirting a kid so some other coach can have his last year.
I just can't imagine a kid who is going to get decent playing time or be a significant contributor leaving a program with the new rule. We have had a few guys who have graduated transfer to a Div 1AA school to play their last semester, I think Lewis Dawson did it, we had a LB under Davie graduate and play his last year at UMass I believe, and a WR from WVA (Ronnie Something or other) left after graduating for 1AA Montana. I don't think any of those guys would have played or contributed as 5th years. So it was a good opportunity for them, none of them did it for the "grad studies" though. Where it's going to be bad is Big schools (esp in basketball) grabbing a top player from a little school for a 1 year insertion of talent, the kid gains greater exposure and the big school fills a need for the year. Heck in Football he'd only have to go the Fall semeseter.
In my mind, it has yet to be proven that getting a hotshot from a smaller school like Towson State to play one year in an elite program like Connecticut is going to upset the balance of power. Just because he was a great player at Towson State does not mean he will be even an average player at UConn. If it should happen that he becomes a star for one year at UConn, would this not be the exception rather than the rule? I can't imagine that this would be an ongoing problem. Of course, if a player goes from a big school program to a smaller school to get more playing time, as Terry cited in the case of ND football players, that's been going on for a long time on a no harm-no foul basis.
Sid, I think the harm shows up in the reverse direction. It really hurts the small school to lose the guy at the peak of his skills after they have invested several years in him...
I hope BDR reads this I'd be curious as to his thoughts on Kovalacheck transfering, he was the starter last year at AZ. There is another kid Willie Tuitiana who came in (I think) and played the end of the season when Kovalcheck was injured?
OK I beat BDR to it with the input..... So it appears that he's a pretty sharp kid and getting a MBA from Vandy while on scholarship for football is a smart move. Plus with the pub that the Vandy QB got last year he's in a good place if he's successfull. Terry
Tough call for ND. With ND's emphasis on academics you let the kids play a 5th year and get an education anywhere they want. In recent years a couple of ND players got an ND degree with eligibility remaining and took couses at another school and played there. But the NCAA required them to go to a non Div 1 school for immediate PT (see the guys TO'K mentioned). Athletically ND is already at a disadvantage due to its own admission requirements (as are Stanford, Vandy and few others), lack of "cake" courses and "cake" majors, not taking JUCOs, and the requirements for transfers blocks 99% of those possibilities. When ND loses an upperclass player they have to replace him with a 18 year old freshman - next season. Other school plug in JUCOS, transfers, and now 5th year grad students. As ND doesn't take all of it's own 5th year/Master candidates, academically the chances of a player coming into ND under this rule is slim to none. Think ND can't lose upperclass players to this rule, then think again. With an ND degree they could go anywhere except the academies (who get screwed with this rule also). Don't think it could happen at ND? Do you remember Paul Failla? ND's #2 QB in '93. Had a year of eligibility left in '94 and went to another school. Had this rule been in effect in '93 when Holtz announced, before the season, that true Freshman Powlus would be the starting QB, the then #2 QB ,a guy named Kevin MacDougal could have immediately moved on to a different Div 1 school and played there. [N.B. Contrary to the use of the word "transfer" in the article this is NOT a "transfer" for a player who has earned an undergraduate degree.] Instead he was stuck at ND and when Powlus broke a collarbone in practice MacDougal went on to have the greatest single season starting QB career in ND history and almost got a national championship ring. Couldn't happen at ND in the future? Think Frazer, Jones, and Clausen. Take your pick of who's #1, #2, and who changes position. One of them sits out a year and instead of being a 5th year starter for ND. Trains for 4 years under Weis then bolts to make a final season splash before the NFL draft He starts for somebody else but leaves a hole in the ND depth chart that wouldn't have been there. Couldn't have impact? It didn't hamper Josh Heupel when he entered Oklahoma as a JUCO and won a NC, did it? With USC's top QBs having a back injury and facing a possible prison sentence, USC would be tearing up the phone lines looking for a QB that wants a Masters Degree in Ballroom Dancing on a ready to roll team, looking for 1 healthy QB to step in and play. Lose a starting RB in Spring Ball, let's check the Plug and Play List of Potential Masters in Kinesology or Crime Scene Investigation student athletes. That 22-23 year old 5th year player has 4 years of Div 1 development in the weight room and on the field. Weis transformed Quinn in a very short time. I'll bet Weis could done the same for Roethlisberger, Pennington, and Leftwich from the MAC or Duke's Krieg. It'd be nice to have a farm team and only have to focus on developing those already matured physically and mentally. UCLA could use UC-Davis and the other UC colleges as a farm system. Texas could use North Texas; LSU, the Directional Schools. ND already has to play on an unlevel playing field (ND Student Affairs/du lac; no conference revenue sharing, no conference block voting in polls; no conference officals, no conference sweetheart scheduling, etc, etc). This is one more straw on the camel's back. It needs to be rescinded.
It would seem to me that the pool of players "ready" to give you meaningfull playing time <b>AND</b> have undergraduate degrees is going to be somewhat limited. It might be though that ND because of it's high grad rate in 4years would provide a disproportionate number of these players. As might Boston College, Penn State, Northwestern and a few others who consistently graduate a lot of players in 4 years. But even so I think it's not going to become much of a trend where lots of players move on for a final year someplace else. Kovalcheck interestingly has 2 years left as he graduated in 3 years. Tommy Z will have a year left and will graduate in 4 years, I wonder if he'll be looking around? Terry
Interesting analysis, Jack. You put a lot of thought into it. The picture is becoming much more clear for me regarding the potential negative consequences.
I'm happy Kovalcheck's getting another opportunity and I wish him luck. I'll be watching his progress at Vandy to see if he overcomes his tendency to throw picks. He threw at least one INT in every Arizona game he started except one, a 2004 win over Washington. His UA career TD-INT numbers were 16-18, which led to Mike Stoops pulling Willie Tuitama's redshirt. While Kovalcheck's situation isn't exactly a cautionary tale, unrestricted free agency should exist in the pros only.