MBB: Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[John Gleich]

After checking out the UW-Stout men's basketball webpage I noticed 9 of 18 players are transfers, either from juco or other schools.  What is to be made of this?  Is Stout having trouble recruiting local and twin cities HS kids?  In my eyes they have certainly become a quintessential renegade school.  Hopefully these players have little effect against the Falcons on weds night! GO RF!!

There are positives and negatives to recruiting juco kids.  For one, you will be getting kids that you know can compete at the college level.  You pretty much know how what they can do and can have a better idea of how they will fit on your team, whereas a high school player likely will have lots of maturing, in a physical sense and in basketball abilities to be able to succeed to the best of their ability.  Yes, certainly, there are exceptions to the rule... guys that come in as Freshmen and are ready to contribute right away and just get better from there.

Some of the drawbacks are that you have a more developed player, who has developed under a different system for a couple of years.  That's not always a bad thing, but you'll need to teach them your system, even if they were under a similar one at the other school.  Also, I would think that team chemistry could be very difficult to develop.  If you have guys that stay together from their freshman year through to the end, they'll really know each other and know how to play with each other.  If they transfer half way through, they likely won't have this same connection.

I transferred after a red shirt year at Michigan Tech and had 4 years of eligibility at UWSP.  Kyle Grusczynski transferred to Point my first year there after one season at Wisconsin and redshirted the year he transferred in (mid season).  Having 4 years at Point, and Kyle having 3.5, I don't think we had the drawbacks that I mentioned above.  But someone who plays 2 years and then transfers might.

[Stout survivor]

Really the best way to do it is to not play high school at all and the go to college 4 years later.  Then you know you are getting the best talent around

[badgerwarhawk]

Other schools in the WIAC have transfers as well, like UW-W.  I'm also not suggesting he's having any problems recruiting local talent. 

Technically, the most recent "high profile" transfers that Whitewater has recruited have been local.  Goodwin went to Milwaukee King and McKay went to Menomonee Falls.  They are both transfers, right?

Yes, that is correct.  They are both transfers.   Both were athletes that we recruited in high school and Goodwin is the son of a former WARHAWK player.  Also Kingsley, Brezovar and Vines are transfer athletes currently on the WARHAWK roster.

[cubs]

Off the topic question .... someone asked me this and I do not know the answer ... I'm sure one of the esteemed board members knows the answer to this inside and out!

If an athlete at a D1 or D2 college wants to transfer to a WIAC school mid-season ... can he?  I suspect he's not eligible to play because he was not on the initial 20-man roster.  Could he practice with the team?

Thanks in advance!

I believe that the WIAC has a rule that mid-year transfers are not allowed to compete until the following season.  For instance, a kid could transfer to a MWC school and compete, starting second semester but not a WIAC school.  It just depends on the conference rule.  

As far as Mr. Coleman's comment about practice, if they were playing during the first semester at a D1/D2 school they already used up a year of eligibility, so they would be able to practice.  

If they played at D2 first semester, and they practiced at D3 second semester, they wouldn't lose two years of eligibility would they?  That wouldn't seem to make sense.....

[Assassin14]

Stout Survivor, I agree that it is not necessarily a bad thing to have a bunch of transfers.  I'm all for finding the best talent available, whether it's high school or transfer.  I like the fact that transfers are usually a bit more mature and developed than your typical HS player.  I've also seemed to notice that many transfers, especially those who transfer with 2 eligible years remaining, don't totally develop into your system until their 2nd year (which isn't totally a bad thing).  However on a team that has 50% of its players as transfers and all but 2 of those transfers are juniors or seniors, I would think it would be difficult to develop team chemistry.  Hey, just trying to spark a little talk about someone other than UWW and UWSP.

[Greek Tragedy]

Platteville, River Falls, and Oshkosh are well represented here as well...just a little quiet for some reason.

[Assassin14]

Yeah, your right old school.  I guess Im just used to reading the football boards....my apologies.....

[chmarx]

La Crosse has some representation, too.

[phoenix_rising]

I dont think that having a bunch of transfers is not necessarily a bad thing

I'm still trying to parse that sentence.

JuCo transfers, I would think, would be a double-edged sword: two years of experience (good), but only two years of eligibility (not so good). And, if you figure a player needs a year to learn to play with the rest of the team, that leaves a year of confident play. I always thought the first year on the floor in college was baptism by fire for most freshmen; high school usually doesn't give you the same kind of play you get in college. I'd call the freshman year for most players a learning year. Mostly junior college people are just in and out too fast. I would think it would take an extraordinary player to fit in well right away. Or, it might take an extraordinary coach to recruit a player who could fit in right away.

A lazy coach might think bringing in a lot of JuCo players would be like creating an instant team. A smart coach would realize he or she just has a different kind of challenge.

[stoutguy]

Really the best way to do it is to not play high school at all and the go to college 4 years later.  Then you know you are getting the best talent around

Ya, but then you have to teach them that concept of walking and chewing gum at the same time concept plus you get so attached to kids like that you end up having to travel thousands of miles just to attend their wedding.  

Regarding the RF/Stout contest tonight, I will be curious to see which RF team shows up.  The one I saw in the Northwestern gym (not very good) or the one who beat Oshkosh on Sat. (must have been very good).  I see this EC/RF/Stout rivarly this year as very interesting.  Most people would put those 3 teams at the bottom of the ladder this year and with the 6 team tourny format, not much wiggle room for any of the three.  Maybe we should provide a small trophy for that team that sneaks into the tournament this year as the 6th seed.  There, Assassin, some "other team stuff" to chew on.  Now I have to get back to the WIAC football board to find out what the assisatant to the assistant special teams coach is thinking about having for breakfast on game day.

[stoutguy]

I dont think that having a bunch of transfers is not necessarily a bad thing

I'm still trying to parse that sentence.

JuCo transfers, I would think, would be a double-edged sword: two years of experience (good), but only two years of eligibility (not so good). And, if you figure a player needs a year to learn to play with the rest of the team, that leaves a year of confident play. I always thought the first year on the floor in college was baptism by fire for most freshmen; high school usually doesn't give you the same kind of play you get in college. I'd call the freshman year for most players a learning year. Mostly junior college people are just in and out too fast. I would think it would take an extraordinary player to fit in well right away. Or, it might take an extraordinary coach to recruit a player who could fit in right away.

A lazy coach might think bringing in a lot of JuCo players would be like creating an instant team. A smart coach would realize he or she just has a different kind of challenge.

Which is exactly why I put your men's coach into that "smart" category.

[Greek Tragedy]

A few of you slackers have yet to get your WIAC Pick Em selections in. 

Plus, there is still plenty of room to join the WIAC Fantasy League, even if it's a "game day" late...DO IT!

[phoenix_rising]

I have to say, I really like Buchanan. He's a total coach: the players and their academics are important; public relations on campus is important; recruiting is important; the game is important. You KNOW Superior won't keep him for long, and I'm already grieving his absence. He IS smart, and I thank you for noting it.

Plus, he's given us a reason to shovel out of our snowbanks on a given afternoon or evening and spend a couple of hours releasing frozen emotion. It takes some practice, but transfers like me--transferring loyalties, I mean--have a leg up. We've been practicing on winning teams elsewhere, and it's fun to imagine we might have a winning team not hours but minutes away.

[phoenix_rising]

...other than hockey, I mean. Wouldn't want to offend the puck gods.

[badgerwarhawk]

I dont think that having a bunch of transfers is not necessarily a bad thing

JuCo transfers, I would think, would be a double-edged sword: two years of experience (good), but only two years of eligibility (not so good). And, if you figure a player needs a year to learn to play with the rest of the team, that leaves a year of confident play.

I understand your point but I think it depends totally on the player and the system.  For instance it didn't take Matt Goodwin or Myles McKay a year to learn how to play with the rest of the roster.  In effect transfers are third year players and I don't think you're giving them enough credit.