What Tubby Smith said darn near four years ago about kids transferring is even more spot on today than it was when he said it. “We’re teaching our kids how to quit.”
Everybody and their cousin Jethrow was fighting mad at the coach because he had the nerve to say what was true. Most folks were mad at him because he’s coached at several different schools always looking for a better opportunity. Isn’t that what professionals do?
He’s the difference between a Tubby and the kids we’re talking about. Tubby Smith has a degree and a job with benefits. These kids don’t and many of them won’t get the degree because they’re too concerned with playing “now” instead of trusting the process, working hard, being patient and getting better like Alabama’s Brian Robinson.
He had to wait until his senior year to get on the field but now he’s better for it. Additionally, when he finishes playing the game he understands what the process of life is supposed to look like. He’s not going to be quitting his job every six months because he wasn’t getting his way like most of these kids that take off every time they don’t get the answer they’re looking for.
Sure, some kids have transferred and its worked out. It’s like going to Las Vegas seeing the one person that hit it big and then EVERYBODY runs out there to try to cash in. Everybody ain’t winning playa!!!
Winning is graduating!!! Pull up the numbers on kids graduating from these programs and be enlightened. Sure, these coaches will take you out of the transfer portal in a heart beat but will they be as concerned about you graduating? And the answer is no!!!
Everybody’s looking for the promised land and most of them are already in it. Sometimes not playing is the best thing for a kid because it makes them learn how to work even harder. These are life’s lessons. Let’s face it. Not everybody is going to be a starter. There has to be role players too. There has to be scout team guys too. However, during the process everybody gets better whether it’s as a player or as a person.
Everybody isn’t going to the NBA or the NFL. Less than 1 percent of D1 players get drafted or make a professional roster. So transferring schools trying to get the league doesn’t make sense especially if you weren’t playing in the first place. If you can’t get on the field at one school you’re probably not good enough to make it to the league. There are rare cases where a change makes sense but everybody taking off doesn’t make sense.
Therefore, get the degree and get the job that everybody is going to have to get at some point anyway. Or not! But it makes a whole lot more sense to be in school 4 or 5 years and walk out with a degree than to chase the NFL or NBA and exhaust your eligibility and get nothing. That’s called getting pimped where I’m from.
Even the guys that get drafted, at some point, will have to get a job. Not everybody that plays in the NFL or NBA finishes their career with millions of dollars and most of those that do end up broke too.
You don’t believe me? Here are the numbers. According to an article entitled “How (and Why) Athletes Go Broke” that was published in Sports Illustrated March of 2009. It says that by the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce. It goes on to say that within five years of retirement, an estimated 60% of former NBA players are broke.
So if you’re transferring schools just to make it to the league and the percentage is slim to none that you will even get drafted. You still need to graduate. Sports can not be the only reason you’re making a decision to bounce from school to school.
Keep in mind that when you do transfer not all of your credits follow you. So you’re adding time to your educational process for playing time that you may or may not even get. We’ve all seen kids transfer and still not play. So just because a kid goes somewhere else doesn’t mean they’re going to see the field.
Why? Because transferring didn’t change they’re DNA. They’re still the same player they were at the first school.
Everybody’s got the freedom to do whatever they want to do but understand that they are lasting consequences to whatever decisions you make whether good or bad. If someone is paying for you to get a free education always keep that at the forefront. Graduate if all else fails. Stop me when I start lyin’!