Continuing on the theme of having the right "fit", I am reminded of an old saying from Ms. Carolyn. Ms. CJ(is what everone called her) was everybody's big mama and she would say the darnedest things. One of my favorites was " Boy, your eyes are too big for your stomach". This simply meant that you are being greedy or you are biting off more than you can chew.
When scanning a message board recently, I ran across these comments concerning the recent news of the University of Cal having three transfers. The transfers include Northern California Legend, Casey Morris. Some of the message board comments follow:
-I heard that three top players left Cal and their roster is down to
five on their board. Does anyone have information on what happened and why they left.
-Because they have 7 incoming freshman. Basically, they recruited over the outgoing players who left to get more playing time elsewhere
-Happens frequently. Arizona had 4-5 transfers(actually 3 documented) this spring and Oregon had at least 3 players leave.
-Be careful when signing your scholarship. Just because the high DI offers a scholarship does not mean that you will play or that you will still be in their plans for all four years. It's cut throat because coaches have to win to keep their high six-figure income
-Scholarships are NOT 4 year deals, this isn't the pros. All Scholarships, NCAA/NAIA are 1 year contracts that may be renewed for the following year. A the end of each year, the coach, school, or player has the option of not signing for an additional year. the 4-year scholarship is a misconception. While players typically stay 4 years (sign 4 contracts) they may leave or be asked to leave at any time.
-It is true that all scholarships are one-year renewable scholarships. However, in the scholarship agreement, it says that a coach must have a reason to pull the scholarship. Technically, recruiting a better player is not a valid reason to pull a scholarship. Therefore, the coach talks to the player and tries to convince the player to leave. The coach tells the player that there is no playing time, etc. However, if the player chooses to stay, the coach cannot pull the scholarship for no reason. Some coaches try to manufacture reasons, but the reality is that a scholarship is a four-year scholarship provided the player does not do anything to warrant losing the scholarship (i.e. be out of shape, ineligible academically, bad attitude, etc).
-don't know how they(Long Beach St.) freed up the scholie, but they have offered scholies that they didn't have available when they took the job. imagine it was the polite "you don't fit in our plans, we'll help you transfer" talk.
My purpose for including these unsubstantiated comments on here is to bring to light the fact that transfers are at an all time high due to many factors, but most importantly, FIT.
The 2010 class of basketball players in San Antonio may go down as one of the most talent rich classes in the history of this city. I have speculated that as many as a dozen girls will sign on with Division 1 colleges. We will also surely see a few girls sign with major Division 1 schools.
College coaches hate to discuss the common practice of recruiting over current players. The fact of the matter is that, if a college program is not returning the starting lineup from a Final Four team, they are trying to get better by recruiting better players. Even though they may promise the world, their livelihood depends on winning. For a local athlete to not realize that college basketball is a huge business, is a mistake.
A great read for the recruitment of girls basketball is, Net Prospect. A used copy is available for few bucks on amazon.
When making their college decision, I hope that all the promising SA talent will decide with their heads and not their hearts. This will be the most important decision of their young lives.
Ms. CJ drove home this important lesson to my young mind when we were discussing the split of a beautifully famous woman and her non celebrity husband. I suggested that this man was a fool to let this dynamic woman get way. Ms. CJ repiled, " His eyes got too big for his stomach, why grab something that you can not hold". Point Taken! But, the problem is that very few of us know how much we can eat without first biting off more than we can chew.
