Even though the NCAA tournament has been cancelled, the other March Madness is in full swing. This March Madness has no brackets, no boundaries and spares no programs. This is no April Fools' prank.
It's the madness of NCAA Men's Basketball transfers. It's crazy and will get worse; not better. I'll explain.
By now, most of you may know that Trey Wertz, Tahj Eaddy and David Thompson are transferring from Santa Clara. To date, their destinations are still not final.
Last season there were about 650 players signed into the transfer portal in Division 1 Men's Basketball. The number in 2020 is growing and the WCC has more than its fair share.
It's bad now, but on top of this, the NCAA is actively considering waving the one year "sitting out" period for transfers.
Throw "be true to your school" allegiance out the window. Be prepared to re-tool your roster every year. Madness.
The term "one and done" used to be reserved for exceptional college players moving to the NBA, but now it's wide open for players "looking" for a better way to showcase themselves for basketball life after college. A few to the Pros, but many to Europe and Asia.
The unintended consequences of these policies will be that the power players in NCAA Men's Basketball will have an even stronger lock on the first look at talent; an unending supply of the best players available from any team, any season to transfer up.
Just look at Trey Wertz. He arrived at SCU as a highly recruited prospect by a number of bigger programs. Recruited as a shooting guard. By the time summer workouts started, he became our point guard; out of necessity when K.J. Feagin and Matt Hauser left for other opportunities.
Trey had moments of brilliance (USC) and embarrassment trying to adapt to a position he'd never played and at a D1 level. However, in those bright moments he showed athleticism that higher level programs can exploit. He is looking at over 11 schools with interest. One is the University of Arizona, where Justin Gainey is an assistant coach and was Trey's primary recruiter to SCU. Arizona is always in the national conversation and a perennial NCAA qualifier. SCU's last NCAA qualifier was 26 years ago. Hard to turn that down.
Expect more. Our main hurdle is to get into the conversation in the WCC and NIT and NCAA invites. We were on track this season to make a move, but key injuries put a screeching halt to that.
Here's an uneducated theory of how this might actually help the Broncos. There is a possibility that higher level program players will find it harder to land playing time as this "free agent" concept creates oversupply into the power and high major programs. This makes mid-majors, like SCU, become more viable. It just takes a few great finds who will get us a few big upsets to elevate our chances.
We'll need to continue to get the best incoming freshman class we can. This year was quite successful, but plan on them for two years. The ones that outgrow our program will try to move up. We should try to catch a few Grad transfers from better programs who already know the NBA is not happening, but want the education as a foundation for their future - basketball or not. Master's degrees last forever.
SCU should grab/steal transfers from high major programs where those players can become stars here vs role players.
Some of the best players across the WCC are leaving big holes in their rosters. It's triage to fill the openings. Puts even more pressure on recruiting.
This part of March Madness is here to stay. Loyalty to coaches and programs is out the window. It's all about the future "Benjamins." I would hate to see the mid-major programs like SCU become the minor leagues or farm teams for the top 30.
The transfer window is open and hopefully our coaching staff will be great "horse" traders for our program!
Last season there were about 650 players signed into the transfer portal in Division 1 Men's Basketball. The number in 2020 is growing and the WCC has more than its fair share.
It's bad now, but on top of this, the NCAA is actively considering waving the one year "sitting out" period for transfers.
Throw "be true to your school" allegiance out the window. Be prepared to re-tool your roster every year. Madness.
The term "one and done" used to be reserved for exceptional college players moving to the NBA, but now it's wide open for players "looking" for a better way to showcase themselves for basketball life after college. A few to the Pros, but many to Europe and Asia.
The unintended consequences of these policies will be that the power players in NCAA Men's Basketball will have an even stronger lock on the first look at talent; an unending supply of the best players available from any team, any season to transfer up.
Just look at Trey Wertz. He arrived at SCU as a highly recruited prospect by a number of bigger programs. Recruited as a shooting guard. By the time summer workouts started, he became our point guard; out of necessity when K.J. Feagin and Matt Hauser left for other opportunities.
Trey had moments of brilliance (USC) and embarrassment trying to adapt to a position he'd never played and at a D1 level. However, in those bright moments he showed athleticism that higher level programs can exploit. He is looking at over 11 schools with interest. One is the University of Arizona, where Justin Gainey is an assistant coach and was Trey's primary recruiter to SCU. Arizona is always in the national conversation and a perennial NCAA qualifier. SCU's last NCAA qualifier was 26 years ago. Hard to turn that down.
Expect more. Our main hurdle is to get into the conversation in the WCC and NIT and NCAA invites. We were on track this season to make a move, but key injuries put a screeching halt to that.
Here's an uneducated theory of how this might actually help the Broncos. There is a possibility that higher level program players will find it harder to land playing time as this "free agent" concept creates oversupply into the power and high major programs. This makes mid-majors, like SCU, become more viable. It just takes a few great finds who will get us a few big upsets to elevate our chances.
We'll need to continue to get the best incoming freshman class we can. This year was quite successful, but plan on them for two years. The ones that outgrow our program will try to move up. We should try to catch a few Grad transfers from better programs who already know the NBA is not happening, but want the education as a foundation for their future - basketball or not. Master's degrees last forever.
SCU should grab/steal transfers from high major programs where those players can become stars here vs role players.
Some of the best players across the WCC are leaving big holes in their rosters. It's triage to fill the openings. Puts even more pressure on recruiting.
This part of March Madness is here to stay. Loyalty to coaches and programs is out the window. It's all about the future "Benjamins." I would hate to see the mid-major programs like SCU become the minor leagues or farm teams for the top 30.
The transfer window is open and hopefully our coaching staff will be great "horse" traders for our program!
