When it comes to transfer waivers, the NCAA should stop playing it both ways
Considering the current madness engulfing the grand scheme of things these days and nights, it might not seem like all that big of a deal, but the NCAA really does need to get its act together.
It should either be all student-athletes are allowed to transfer without sitting out a year, or all student-athletes who transfer must sit out a year before becoming eligible.
One or the other.
Not a little bit of both.
We speak here of the transfer tidal wave that has washed over college sports. And it’s not just that the NCAA’s transfer portal is jammed with student-athletes desiring a change of scenery. There’s also a waiver wave of student-athletes who have applied for immediate eligibility, citing special circumstances, to avoid the traditional requirement of sitting a season before being allowed to play, a rule that applies to baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football and men’s ice hockey.
Former UK basketball player Johnny Juzang was granted a waiver this past week so he can play in 2020-21 for his new school, UCLA. Though the NCAA did not specify its reasoning, it was assumed Juzang benefited from returning home to California during the COVID-19 crisis.
Meanwhile, Big Blue Nation sits on pins and needles wondering if its newest transfer, former Wake Forest center Olivier Sarr, will be granted a waiver on grounds his former college coach, Danny Manning, was fired six weeks after the season abruptly ended.
And in football, new UK quarterback Joey Gatewood was hoping to benefit from an NCAA proposal that would grant student-athletes a one-time transfer waiver. Alas, instead of an expected May vote, the NCAA kicked the can down the road, postponing action until January, too late for Gatewood to play this year.
It’s the NCAA’s arbitrary nature that leaves you scratching your head. After years of being criticized for being too rigid and unforgiving in how it treats student-athletes, the body loosened its reins a bit, granting waivers in certain circumstances. The problem is there isn’t always a rhyme or reason to when the reins are loosened.
Just last November, the NCAA denied a waiver for women’s basketball player Evina Westbrook, who left Tennessee after coach Holly Warlick was fired and transferred to Connecticut.
“It’s unfortunate,” said UConn Coach Gene Auriemma, “that a student-athlete’s life is being impacted by a committee sitting in Indianapolis making a decision on whether or not someone meets the arbitrary requirements, whether or not you can play right away.”
In football, Coastal Carolina offensive lineman Brock Hoffman transferred to Virginia Tech to be closer to his mother, recovering from surgery for a non-malignant brain tumor, yet was denied a waiver by the NCAA.
Meanwhile, with UK’s help, two of its players who left during (Quade Green) and after (Jemarl Baker) the 2018-19 season were ruled immediately eligible for 2019-20. Green played right away at Washington, though he ended up academically ineligible. And Baker played right away at Arizona.
UK’s John Calipari is not in favor of the onetime waiver, saying only half in jest that it would make smaller programs a farm team for bigger programs, like Kentucky. “That should be enough for them to not pass the rule right there,” he said.
“It’s still a terrible rule even if they transfer for the right reasons,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said recently. “It’s setting up a Wild, Wild West free agency.”
The answer is simple. There is nothing wrong with players leaving one school for a better opportunity at another. Regular students do it without penalty. Coaches do it without penalty. Calipari left UMass for the NBA. He left Memphis for Kentucky. Self left Tulsa for Illinois. He left Illinois for Kansas. Student-athletes should be allowed the same opportunity.
Until January, however, all bets are off. Olivier Sarr left Wake Forest for Kentucky with fingers crossed he’ll be able to play in 2020-21. Dick Vitale tweeted this week he has a feeling Sarr will get the wavier. But it’s only a feeling. With the way the NCAA operates, no one knows for sure. And that’s the problem.
