Not so long ago, college athletes had to sit out a year when they transferred. They were red-shirt players, and making that tough decision couldn’t be taken lightly.
Now, the players can transfer multiple times after every season, and they will still be eligible to suit up and play the very next year. That has drawn some criticism among purists.
With that in mind, Arkansas Razorbacks coach and college basketball legend John Calipari had an interesting idea. The players should only be eligible to play right away if they transfer under certain circumstances.
John Calipari proposes conditional transfers
“I think kids should be able to transfer, I don’t have any issue with that,” Calipari said, per 247 Sports. “Once, without penalty. Whatever happens, a coach said something, he lied to you? Good, leave. You picked the wrong school? He picked the wrong guy? Leave. If the coach leaves and goes to another school, you should be able to leave … Other than that, sit out a year.”
Of course, that makes perfect sense. Some people complain about how all the transfers hurt the players’ academic chances, and they also fail to develop the character to thrive in adversity.
Then again, there has never been any sort of transparency in college sports, and there are countless ways to get around the rules, so perhaps this might only complicate things.