By JP Pelzman
This is part 1 of my two-part interview with CBS Sports’ college basketball insider Jon Rothstein. We talked about a wide variety of subjects, both locally and nationally, including the effects of the no-sitout transfer rule and what he sees on the horizon for both Seton Hall and the Big East as a whole next season.
J.P. Pelzman: Were you surprised at the number of players in the transfer portal? We all knew it would be the wild, wild West, but it kept going and going and going. As someone who does such a great job of reporting on all these moves and staying on top of them, what was your reaction as the portal kept filling up?
Jon Rothstein: I thought there obviously would be a lot of unintended consequences with this. I was pretty vocal about that (beforehand). I do understand the thought that all college athletes should have uniform transfer rules. I understand that from that perspective, and that makes sense, and if that’s the way we’re going to go, which is obviously the way we’re headed now with the legislation, let’s just tighten things up a little bit so that we can have some guardrails on this. Let's make sure that under no circumstances whatsoever moving forward that we’re going to have any kids be allowed to transfer after May 1. Let’s make sure that notification date is (enforced).
I also think that and I need to point this out, the NCAA has said this is a one-time transfer exception (for players who have made multiple transfers) and I guess that makes things nice and clean. But my question is, why do we still have waivers? Waivers were really the genesis of what started this volatility on the transfer market, because if there were no waivers, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in right now. So, I think we could obviously tighten up the notification date, which hopefully we will next year and do a better job of eliminating waivers.
Because the truth of the matter is the NCAA can say it’s a one-time transfer exception, but it’s not a one-time transfer exception if you’re still going to allow multi-time transfers to be eligible immediately and that includes graduate transfers.
If everybody was under the impression that you can do this once without obviously having to do a year in residence, we’d obviously have a lot more clarity and we’d have a lot more stability in the sport.
JPP: I totally agree with you. And I've heard that word--guardrail--before. Is that the biggest guardrail you feel should be in place, you can only do it once without a sitout year?
JR: Well, I think that and the notification date are the biggest things. Again, there are a lot of other unintended consequences, but this obviously is the way things are heading. … We can eliminate waivers and say a kid can transfer one time without sitting out and that’s it, and make sure nobody can transfer after May 1, so (most) players have six weeks after their season ends to make a decision. I think we’d see a lot more stability across the board in our sport.
JPP: Do you think this year was a bit of an aberration because it was such a rough year for everyone (with COVID restrictions)? It wasn’t the normal college experience. Do you think that contributed to some of the movement?
JR: A lot of the players that are coming to school that will be freshmen in the 2021-22 season, a lot of those players didn’t have the chance to officially visit their schools because of the pandemic. So that could mean, obviously, that we’re going to see another situation with (a lot) of transfers next year. Transfers aren’t going to stop, as far as the culture that we live in.
In basketball, we’re seeing it at the grassroots level and the high school level. That's something that’s universal in college sports. Let's just tighten up the guardrails a little bit and brace for it. But I think there are different levels of this rule.
Seton Hall gets a guy in Kadary Richmond, that if he went back to Syracuse, probably would’ve been a returning starter on a team that went to the Sweet 16, and would be looked at potentially as one of the breakout players as a sophomore next season in the ACC. Seton Hall gets him as a transfer. When has Kevin Willard been able to get a player of that ilk out of high school except maybe Isaiah Whitehead or Myles Powell? Of course, you’re going to love the transfer rule. And then, you’re going to look at someone like Alexis Yetna, who, if he went back to South Florida, would’ve been probably a first-team All-Conference player in the American Conference. When is Seton Hall, other than Angel Delgado, going to get a player of that potential ilk out of high school?
And then, if you look even deeper, if you’re a mid-major coach right now, why would you take a high school player? Why would you spend time in July evaluating a high school player because if that player produces at a reasonable level, he’s going to try to get to the highest (collegiate) level, which is fine. Those are the rules of engagement. I think it’s going to make teams and programs completely recalibrate how they build.
JPP: Do you think, Jon, that’s the reason we’re seeing some of these older coaches retire, the fact that you’re going to have to re-recruit some of your guys every year to keep them from transferring?
JR: That's definitely a big part of it. And I think we need to look at this too, JP, the days of every program in college basketball being a program are over. I think certain programs like Villanova or a program of that ilk like Gonzaga will be building programs still, but more and more often, we’re going to be seeing teams built on a year-to-year basis. I think programs are going to be the exceptions rather than the rule.
JPP: How do you see Kevin (Willard) being able to work in those transfers you mentioned? Do you see the Pirates as a major contender in the Big East?
JR: I was a little bit surprised--last year, obviously was the first time in a while that Seton Hall really didn’t hit its stride (down the stretch). I thought Seton Hall really missed an opportunity in the middle of the year to move the needle when they had games against Creighton and Villanova at home and they came up short that week. With that said, as long as Kevin Willard is the coach, I expect Seton Hall to be in position to make the NCAA tournament.
The point guard spot needs to be stabilized, but there is really good incoming talent, with Richmond and Yetna, two guys we already talked about, Yetna would’ve been an All-Conference player in the American and Richmond would’ve been a breakout player nationally and still could be.
Jared Rhoden to me, could be one of the best players in the Big East next year. And I think Tyrese Samuel is one of those players who has a chance to become a star with extended minutes. He's got a great physical presence, he can get to the basket, he can make shots from the outside. Nationally, he’s a player that not a lot of people are talking about, but with extended minutes, he could be a star.
It will be interesting to see how the rotation is molded. The Big East is a small-ball conference in a lot of ways. Kevin could use Jared Rhoden as a small-ball 4 in an effort to get Kadary Richmond and Myles Cale on the floor at the same time. Kevin obviously will have to figure that out. He’ll really have to mold the clay with this group. But I look at this team on paper and I see a team that should be in the top five of the Big East and if you’re in the top five of the Big East you’re an NCAA tournament team.
