The college basketball season ended Monday night in Arlington, Texas.
The transfer season, however, is just getting started.
For years, the numbers have risen — last year, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported 409 players chose new schools, and this year it’s already closing in on 150 and climbing — none more so than locally, where programs and players are moving around at a rapid rate.
St. John’s, Fordham, Wagner, Rutgers and Hofstra have lost numerous players recently, while a number of players with local ties are changing schools as well, such as Harlem point guard Kareem Canty (Marshall), Bronx guard Xavier Pollard (Maine), guard Justin Jenkins of The Bronx (Fairfield), Bronx-raised guard Kevin Ware (Louisville) and Harlem forward Malik Thomas (Boston University), among several others.
“These kids don’t know how to work for anything,” said one local coach, whose program has been helped, more than it’s been hurt, by transfers. “They transfer colleges, high schools, AAU teams. It’s an instant gratification society and culture.”
Of course, each situation is different. Canty — who enjoyed a big freshman year at Marshall, averaging 16.3 points and 5.5 assists — wanted out when head coach Tom Herrion was fired, a source said. The source said Penn State, Kansas and South Florida have reached out to Canty, who would prefer to get closer to home, though not necessarily too close, for personal reasons. Another source said Jenkins wanted to play in a more fast-paced system that could highlight his ability, while Pollard, who has one year of eligibility left, wants a chance to get to the NCAA Tournament, a source said. Kent State, Iona, LIU and Towson are on his list.
The NCAA isn’t free of blame either. By giving out more and more hardship waivers, which eliminates the downside of transferring — that they would have to sit out a year — more players are seeking greener pastures.
Some coaches say they have to re-recruit their players yearly. Fordham coach Tom Pecora, who had three players transfer — Jermaine Myers and Jake and Jared Fay — because they wanted more playing time, said he doesn’t follow that philosophy.
“If a player comes in and he tells me he wants to leave, I give him the black book and tell him, ‘Where do you want to go?’ ” Pecora said.
Not all schools abide by such a player-friendly policy. Canty, for instance, wasn’t given his release to transfer until winning an appeal on Friday. Other schools will limit the options a student athlete can choose from.
Obviously, times have changed. Pecora lamented the presence of third-parties, described by many as advisers who are in players’ ears about the possibilities out there. Waiting a year to start is as modern as a drive-in movie theater. Pecora recalled when freshmen didn’t even play varsity college basketball.
“I remember hearing about the freshmen team at UCLA being better than the varsity and things like that,” Pecora said.
St. John’s coach Steve Lavin was in Chicago to see Orr High School forward Marlon Jones and plans to visit with forward Adom Jacko of Chaffey Community College on Saturday. Lavin and his staff also are recruiting Westchester Community College’s Keith Thomas, the top JUCO rebounder in the country. His coach, Tyrone Mushatt, said Thomas will be visiting St. John’s, Memphis and Wright State before making a decision.
Fordham is playing host to Serbian point guard Nemanja Zarkovic on an official visit this weekend.
Rutgers has offered former Marquette signee Marial Shayok, a three-star recruit from Blair Academy (N.J.). He bolted the program when Buzz Williams took the head-coaching position at Virginia Tech. The Scarlet Knights are also involved in Maryland transfer Roddy Peters, a freshman they recruited hard out of high school.
Roselle Catholic (N.J.) junior forward Chris Silva added an offer from Rhode Island.
Seton Hall hosted Ewing High School’s (N.J.) junior guard Trey Lowe on an unofficial visit on Friday.