Tom Izzo chides 'unhappy' transfers, rips new NCAA portal rules

[Halldan1]

Izzo chides 'unhappy' transfers, rips portal rules

Tom Izzo warned that the NCAA's new rules on "unhappy" athletes looking to transfer could result in "unintended consequences."

www.espn.com

Myron Medcalf, ESPN Staff Writer

With more players entering the transfer portal across collegiate sports each year, advocates have compared the freedom athletes now enjoy to the flexibility coaches have when they decide to change jobs.

Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo countered that the comparison is wrong and doesn't account for the financial constraints and professional experience involved with coaching changes.

Izzo said Tuesday that "unhappy" players who transfer are different from coaches who make professional decisions about their careers.

"Yeah, I have flexibility, I can leave," Izzo said at Big Ten media day in Minneapolis. "I have millions of dollars of a buyout if I leave. I've paid 40 years of dues to leave. Most coaches have put in their time. Most coaches will be doing that at 35 and 40 and 50, not at 20 when one guy tells you to leave because you're unhappy.

"You know what, what's wrong with being unhappy? I'm unhappy most of my life. Unhappy drives you. Unhappy pushes you. Unhappy makes people realize, 'You know what? I'm not good enough. I've got to get better.'"

The NCAA recently reduced the notification-of-transfer window in men's and women's basketball from 60 days to 45 days, meaning a player now has 45 days to transfer once the window opens the day after Selection Sunday.

"I'm not for what they're looking to do," Izzo said. "I think 30 days would have been plenty. I think most kids know where they're going anyway. I think they forget we've got a job to do.

"Let me tell you something: This transfer portal is not going to be the best thing for the kids. You get 45 days. If you think a kid is leaving, are you going to go out and get somebody else? Because you can't wait forever. Now it's affecting the kids you've got there."

Izzo said he believes there are valid reasons for a player to transfer, such as when a coach leaves, but warns that the future could include "unintended consequences" such as lower graduation rates. He also said the players who enter the portal and fail to get scholarship offers elsewhere are in vulnerable positions.

According to NCAA data, 19% of the Division I men's basketball players who entered the transfer portal last year and were on scholarship at their previous schools failed to obtain scholarships at other schools. Izzo also said only a small percentage of players turn pro, which means most of the men's players "need to graduate."

"Let's see what the graduation rate goes to as kids are transferring all over the world," Izzo said. "Let's look at the unintended consequences. ... Don't blame the kids. Blame the adults, blame us. We're the ones at fault, not them."

 

[shu09]

Good for Izzo for speaking up. IMO, he's usually on the right side of most issues - this one included.

 

[CL82]

What I found interesting is that 19% of the kids who entered the portal on scholarship do not receive an offer out of the portal. So, one in five who entered the portal are going to lose their scholarship. That belies the narrative that the portal is good for the athletes. It is, not surprisingly, a vehicle for big programs to pick up talent from smaller schools while shedding kids who are not performing.

For what it's worth, Connecticut is using it successfully, but I still think it's bad for basketball and not in the best interest of student athletes.

 

[Section112]

Spot on Tom! He's 100% right about the coaches too. I've long heard people say that well if a coach can leave why can't the players. Well those coaches were assistant coaches for a long time and they worked their way up to the HC position like in other career paths. There is also a limited number of coaching opportunities out there. With NIL and the portal, if a kid is highly rated out of HS, he gets paid whether he produces or not and can go somewhere else if he doesn't like it or doesn't want to work his way up. It's completely upside down.

 

[SHUSource]

Izzo said Tuesday that "unhappy" players who transfer are different from coaches who make professional decisions about their careers.

"Yeah, I have flexibility, I can leave," Izzo said at Big Ten media day in Minneapolis. "I have millions of dollars of a buyout if I leave. I've paid 40 years of dues to leave. Most coaches have put in their time. Most coaches will be doing that at 35 and 40 and 50, not at 20 when one guy tells you to leave because you're unhappy.

"You know what, what's wrong with being unhappy? I'm unhappy most of my life. Unhappy drives you. Unhappy pushes you. Unhappy makes people realize, 'You know what? I'm not good enough. I've got to get better.'"

This is self-serving bullschidt. Sure, he's right in many cases, but not at all in many others. You just can't paint with this broad of a stroke, and the fact that he chose this particular stroke, with all the usual nonsense about "You young people don't know what it takes to succeed!" makes it easy to see it for what it is -- crap ... someone grumbling about how it isn't the way he's used to anymore.

Forty-year employees have the right to leave for another job, and so do second- or third-year employees, especially when it's their labor that is in demand. (Or it might not be in demand and the market will dictate that; it's not the right move for everyone, but those aren't the ones this lazy, self-satisfied jerk is upset about. He just doesn't want to re-recruit talent and it's that simple.)

Sometimes, "unhappy" makes you realize, "You know what? I'm already really good and I don't need to work for this entitled fool, especially when another coach who has won a national championship within my lifetime will give me a better opportunity."

 

[SHUSource]

What I found interesting is that 19% of the kids who entered the portal on scholarship do not receive an offer out of the portal. So, one in five who entered the portal are going to lose their scholarship. That belies the narrative that the portal is good for the athletes. It is, not surprisingly, a vehicle for big programs to pick up talent from smaller schools while shedding kids who are not performing.

For what it's worth, Connecticut is using it successfully, but I still think it's bad for basketball and not in the best interest of student athletes.

I think the portal is good for kids who use it wisely. The others may as well become acquainted with the consequences of poor decisions. But it's not for us to decide for them.

 

[Seton75]

Izzo should look at his paycheck and say Thank God that the public wants to watch the kids who play college ball. They made me rich beyond my dreams and till now they could not be legally compensated. Till now we made up rules to keep them from leaving our schools to make our lives as coaches easier. They deserve a big piece of my salary cause they created the revenue and me losing a chunk of my salary still leaves me richer than I ever imagined.

And who pays the buyouts, the coach or the new school?

 

[Section112]

I'm all for NIL. I'm talking actual NIL. But the athletes need to do something to earn it.
And I'm all for the athletes being employees of the schools and earning $ for playing a game that enriches coaches and schools. I'm not for what the current landscape is, which is asking the booster for more cash so the schools/coaches can keep their cash and the athletes can make more money off of the boosters. Not the athletes fault at all. The schools and fans are the ones to blame for this silly current situation.