Reply To: Another scholarship???

Forum Forum Lehigh Sports Lehigh Men’s Basketball Another scholarship??? Reply To: Another scholarship???

#5651
Bison137
Bison137
Participant

Quote: “IMHO, if the coach quits or is dismissed, the coach/school is quitting on the player. Why can’t the player do the same? When the kid was recruited, he believed the coach would be there when he arrived.”

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A lot of people would agree – but the NCAA rules do not. I’d guess one reason for requiring a school to release their signees is to help prevent the possibility of a team not having enough players on their roster to field a competitive team. Another reason is to allow the new coach to have time to re-recruit the signee and convince him to stay with the program.

One lesson – which likely will never be learned – is that a player should base his decision on a lot more than just the coach. The Patriot League, for example, has generally not lost a lot of players when coaching changes have occurred:

– Bucknell did not have any signees decommit when Flannery retired, and no players already on the roster transferred out.
– Lehigh had one signee (out of 4?) back out when Taylor left for Ball State. No players transferred.
– Holy Cross did not have any players decommit when Kearney was fired (although two left within a year) and did not have any players already on the roster transfer out.
– Colgate had two signees decommit when Emmett Davis was fired, but had no existing players transfer out.