Player choices helping football, not basketball
COLLEGE STATION — Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher knows he’s toeing a tightrope in a new era of college athlete free agency. But at least in its infancy, Fisher could double as a Flying Wallenda.
“Change is inevitable, and whether you want to adapt is up to you,” Fisher said. “There are changes you like, and there are changes you don’t like — (but) those are the rules you’ve got to play by.”
But while Fisher can’t shake solid seniors from his roster — a handful of defensive starters are returning for a “bonus” senior year courtesy of the NCAA — A&M basketball coach Buzz Williams can’t keep many of the players he recruited to College Station on his.
An eye-popping eight players from this past season’s basketball team have opted to move on, including the Aggies’ best 202021 player by a long shot, forward Emanuel Miller — the guy Williams intended to build his team around next season. Young guards Jaxson Robinson, Cashius McNeilly and LaDamien Bradford figured in the mix for playing time next season as well, but they’re headed out a suddenly whirling revolving door.
Williams has stifled the exodus a bit with the addition to date of three players: forward Ethan Henderson and guards Marcus Williams and Aaron Cash, none of whom will make anyone in Reed Arena forget
Miller.
When the dust settles on the Reed floor following a flurry of offseason free agency, will Williams have an improved roster? Time will tell, but early signs are not encouraging for A&M basketball fans.
They can at least take solace that plenty of programs, prominent and not so much, are being hit with pending transfers this spring and summer. Williams has not commented publicly on the pending exits.
In exacerbating the player movement, the NCAA’s Division I Council this month adopted legislation that will allow football and basketball players to transfer one time without sitting out a season, starting in the 2021-22 school year. The Division I Board of Directors is expected to approve the change later this month.
Fisher said with the direction of the NCAA in recent years, including adding the transfer portal to make the overall process easier for athletes and myriad waivers for those not wanting to sit out a year, little will change with the updated legislation.
“Everybody (came) up with an excuse to transfer last time with the waiver, and they still got through (to another school). All this does is eliminate the waiver process,” Fisher said. “So it’s still going to be very similar, in my opinion.”
Fisher’s Aggies finished No. 4 nationally, their highest ranking in the final Associated Press poll since A&M won the national title in 1939. Cornerback Myles Jones, defensive tackle Jayden Peevy, defensive end Micheal Clemons and linebacker Aaron Hansford, all senior starters, had such a good time in 2020 they opted for one more round, despite being potential selections in the NFL draft.
The NCAA did not count a season of eligibility in 2020-21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fisher, whose program should be poised to make a run at a national title, is pleased as maroon punch he returns nine starters on what should be one of the country’s top defenses.
“I really believe they can grow,” Fisher said of the veteran foursome that chose to get the band back together one more time. “If there wasn’t anything they could get better at, I’d tell them they need to go (to the NFL). I really would. … Those guys made mature decisions.”
Fisher urges athletes, especially ones cranking up their college careers, to carefully consider their long-term futures before jumping from program to program, no matter the sport. In part because they might give up a scholarship and not end up with one elsewhere.
“I hope guys (don’t) get frustrated when they’re young; (be) willing to work for things,” Fisher said. “If a coach is getting on you and pushing you and challenging you, you can push through that and not have to look to run every time something doesn’t go your way. … At the same time, I think there are times when guys can transfer.
“(Say) you’ve got a year or two left and your playing time could be limited because it may be the last two years you’re ever allowed to play football. There’s good and bad in all of it. We’ve just got to regulate it and somehow make it fair, and that’s the NCAA’s job. We’ll adapt to the rules.”
The Aggies wrap up spring drills Saturday with their annual spring game, and Fisher’s deep roster isn’t expected to be decimated in the summer by any prominent transfers. His program is a hot commodity based on its upward arc, having closed out the season with eight consecutive victories, including in the Orange Bowl against North Carolina.
For his part, Williams, who succeeded at Marquette and then Virginia Tech, has been hit by bad timing or bad coaching or whatever was behind the Aggies’ 2-8 record in SEC play this past season, leading to a head-scratching exodus this spring.
A&M basketball is far from a hot commodity in the spring of 2021. Williams’ primary task moving forward is a furious stitching of his program and then crossing his fingers there’s not another unraveling in this new world of college free agency.