Transferring/Leaving Early for the NBA - Part One

I could sit here and spew about how players should be paid because the NCAA is a multi billion dollar cash cow, or not be paid due to the money needed to fund smaller sports on campus, but there are enough articles about that subject to outlast Harry Potter scripts. 

If a player transfers, he leaves his institution for undisclosed reasons.  If a player jumps to the NBA he leaves for financial reasons and to take his game to the next level.  Blah blah blah, you have read or heard these statements multiple times every year.  I'm glad I got the cliche headlines out of the way.

When you hear a player is transferring, you automatically think about what your beloved team is losing.  That emotion quickly turns into "wait he was happy, right? but then there were those times he seemed out of it, right? But he loves his school, right?"  You keep going through scenarios why someone would transfer.

Before you read this, understand my background.  In high school, in 3 years, I lived with 6 NBA players, of those 6 (all 1st Round picks): one left out of high school, two were one and done, one was two and done, one was three and done, and one graduated from college.  In college, I was in every person's shoes.  There were times I was the leading scorer in big games, and there were times I didnt even sniff the court in terrible games.  I started some games, played minimum other games.  I was respected because my attitude never waivered despite the situation I was in.

When you commit to a school and sign your letter of intent, you commit to the coach and the program for four years.  When I was a senior in high school, my coach told me "Freshman want to play, Sophomores want to start, Juniors want to score, and Seniors want to win".  Never forgot this, and looked at what was most important, winning.  Too bad this logic doesn't apply to everyone.  In high school, you show your skills, you make good grades, and your family and close friends think you're the greatest thing to happen to basketball since Naismith.  Don't think that stops when you graduate out of high school.  If anything, it gets worse. Way worse.

Go to Las Vegas this Summer for the U17 Nike or Adidas tournament and you'll see the college stars of tomorrow.  These kids have played against each other for years.  They will all meet on the same stage called the NCAA (granted they qualify).  I will give you a scenario, two kids in this tournament are in a head to head matchup, they both scored over 30 points and 10 assists.  One goes to UConn, gets freshman of the year, the other goes to Kansas and hardly plays.  In his mind he's just as good as the other kid and instantly believes he is entitled to the same accolades although they are in different situations.  He's not the only person that sees this, so do his close friends and family.

"you destroyed him on the AAU circuit"

"Your coach does'nt know what he's doin'"

"Why don't you shoot more"

"You're letting the family down, we need you to make it"

"Here's what you need to do..."

"You should come closer to home"

"How is that kid playing more than you?"

"Do you need me to talk to your coach, don't worry I'm sending an email soon"

"(insert name) is killin at (insert school), when is it your turn?"

The outside influence from the people that are closest is so strong.  These are just a few of the quotes college kids go through on a daily basis.  You go through the stresses of college academics as well as maintaining a full-time job that requires mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical exertion.  You would think a player gets comfort from home, when in actuality it may be the most stressful aspect of it all.  This confusion can lead one to transfer easily to make sure they abide to everyone else's standards and it quickly starts to manipulate the way one thinks.

When it comes to recruiting, the coach has to build his team the best he can and upgrade each position to the best of his ability.  His goal every year is to win a championship, exceed expectations, and be better than a year ago.  If there are good players on the team, so what.  You make every position better with talent and depth. 

In high school, I was a wing forward.  Every year, the coach brought in All Americans at my position and I still found ways to start.  In nature, you either fight or flight.  No difference here.  Coach will bring in talent and you can see it as a disrespect and prove you are top dog at the position or fight for playing time as a back up and maybe learning multiple positions so you can fill in anywhere, earning more playing time. Other kids were coddled growing up, meaning they were always helped through adversities and never dealt with problems on their own.  These kids see a little adversity in college and see flight as the only option to leave.  Kids think they are better than they actually are, so the more in tune you are to how you view yourself, the more successful you will be.  False perceptions of your reality will doom you.

"In every aspect of our society today we r taught that its ok to do less and expect more.. when did that become acceptable"- Jeff Van Gundy

Part Two involving players leaving early for the NBA will be posted soon...