Post by pix99 on Apr 12, 2024 11:50:37 GMT -6
The one change the NCAA has made which I believe they could reverse (if they wanted to) without legal penalties would be forcing transfers to sit out a year unless they've graduated from their original school.
This should pass legal muster because the transferred player would still be eligible to receive a scholarship. He simply wouldn't be eligible to play. You can go a step further (to appease the lawyers) by not treating this as a redshirt year. You're not robbing the player of a year of eligibility. You're merely postponing it.
This one simple change accomplishes two things:
1) Players transferring would know they'll be sitting on the bench for a year at their new school before getting on the field. A G5 starter is far more likely to be noticed by the NFL than a benchwarmer with zero playing time at a Power Greed (PG) team. A younger player may still transfer, since 19 year olds have all the time in the world. But a junior or senior is going to think twice about delaying his pro dreams for an extra year.
2) The fact that a 1st year transfer costs a scholarship with no on-field benefit will slow tampering down. If I'm a PG coach and make an illegal call to a G5 All American knowing he'll fill a need on my team this fall, I'm making that call. OK, I'll get an underling to make the call to a middle man who'll then contact the player. You have to cover your tracks. But the call WILL be made. But if that same call means I lose a scholarship with NO BENEFIT to me this fall, I'm going to be ultra-selective about making those kinds of offers. It won't stop tampering entirely -- if my stud left tackle is entering the Draft after this season, I can always bring in his replacement a year early. But it becomes an investment at that point, much like redshirting an untested 4- or 5-star high school player. I lose the scholarship this year in return for what I hope will be a solid player NEXT year.
You're never going to stop it. You can only hope to contain it.
Scholarships are finite. Making coaches think twice about giving up a scholarship will at least help contain it.
EDIT: Yes, I realize making this change would require the PG teams to give a crap about what they're doing to lower-tier teams. And they don't. So it'll never happen. But it's the one change they could make which wouldn't be successfully challenged in court.
"It won't stop tampering entirely -- if my stud left tackle is entering the Draft after this season, I can always bring in his replacement a year early. But it becomes an investment at that point, much like redshirting an untested 4- or 5-star high school player. I lose the scholarship this year in return for what I hope will be a solid player NEXT year."
The pessimist in me says this would be the result. The St. Nick coaches of the PG world are always thinking ahead & recruiting/planning/scheming accordingly, with an obscene budget to make it all happen. And to the argument that a G5 player would rather stay at little ol State U & play than sit a season at Mega U... I tend to think a significant number wouldn't mind sitting if they're getting paid well to do so AND they buy the sales pitch of being a 'sure starter' the next season.
Now pardon me while I go refill my perpetually half empty glass...