Grass is greener for many players
Two days, two announcements that key players on two Pac-10 teams are leaving their respective programs.
If only the news that Oregon State’s leading scorer Talisa Rhea is transferring to Seattle University – or that point guards Kiki Moore and Danielle Lenoir are leaving Washington State — came as a surprise.
Talisa Rhea - Oregon State athletics
But it’s not, not a surprise at all because player movement in the Pac-10 seems to have become commonplace in recent years. It’s more commonplace every place, in fact.
Is it the recruiting process – with stakes growing by the year — that forces players into hasty decisions? Is it kids and parents with unrealistic expectations? Are kids leaving because they want to play more? Want to win more? Want to get yelled at less?
Yes to all of them.
The current crop of players simply seems much more comfortable with the idea of picking up and leaving if they are dissatisfied with their experience with a given program.
“If you look over the last few years, it’s a different generation of players,” said one West Coast coach. “It’s please me right here, right now. And if not, the grass is greener and it’s going to be better someplace else. I don’t think it’s limited to any one school. But it’s like the first year is trial-and-error.”
There could be more movement. The rumor mill is that Rhea isn’t the only player who wants out of Corvallis.
The following is a list of transfers from four-year-schools (in and out) involving Pac-10 players over the past four years who were or would have been on 2009-2010 Pac-10 rosters via transfer.
If I left anybody out, feel free to let me know.
Arizona
Transferred out
- Rheya Neabors to UC Riverside
- Rhaya Neabors to UC Riverside
- Malia Nahinu to San Diego State
- Courtney Clements to San Diego State
- Amani Butler to Seattle University
Transferred in
- Shanita Arnold from Arkansas
Arizona State
Transferred out
- None.
Transferred in
- Kali Bennett from Washington
Cal
Transferred out
- Jene Morris to San Diego State
- Kelsey Adrian to UC Santa Barbara
- Angelei Aguirre to UC Santa Barbara
- Casey Morris to Texas Tech
Transferred in
None.
Oregon
Transferred out
- Tamika Nurse to Bowling Green
Transferred in
- None
Oregon State
Transferred out
- Talisa Rhea to Seattle University
- Judie Lomax to Columbia
- Jasmine Smith to St. Mary’s
- Alex Mitchell to North Carolina A&T
- Whitney Champlin to SIU-Edwardsville
- Brittany Eskridge to Oral Roberts
- Viki Wohlers to Alaska-Anchorage.
Transferred in
- None.
Stanford
Transferred out
- None.
Transferred in
- None.
USC
Transferred out
- Morghan Medlock to Baylor
Transferred in
- Daniela Roark from Fordham
UCLA
Transferred out
- None.
Transferred in
- Jasmine Dixon from Rutgers
Washington
Transferred out
- Katelan Redmond to Gonzaga
- Kali Bennett to Arizona State
- Candice Nichols to Loyola Marymount
Transferred in
- Regina Rogers from UCLA
Washington State
Transferred out
- Kiki Moore, not known yet
- Danielle Lenoir, not known yet
- Salena Dickerson to Seattle University
Transferred in
- Katie Madison from Idaho
12 responses so far
Jasmne Smith transfered out of Oregon State to St. Mary’s.
Also, Alex Mitchell left Oregon St and I heard is playing somewhere in North Carolina.
Casey Morris out of Cal.
Just to clarify, Jess McCormack never enrolled at UConn. She intended to play at UConn, but decided instead to return home to New Zealand. I think she played for Canberra last season in the WNBL.
Also, Elie Manou left Oregon. She likewise joined the WNBL, but I don’t recall which team. Maybe Sydney? I don’t know if you want to add her, since technically she didn’t transfer.
And Brenna Heater left Cal this season. She is back in Ashland OR. She’s left basketball altogther for now. Again, don’t know if she should be included because she also did not transfer.
Jess McCormack was enrolled at UCONN as a redshirt for one semester. She returned home to have surgery and decided not return.
Kim, Jess McCormack did enroll at UConn. She definitely enrolled for the fall semester 2008 and she was among the UConn players that made the Dean’s list that semester if I remember correctly. And she was likely enrolled for the spring semester as well before returning home to New Zealand at the end of Janurary to have surgery.
Stephanie Wilber transferred out of ASU to BYU. Got injured during her sit-out year and then retired.
Taylor Champion left Oregon State at semester and McCallister has asked for her release. Lenoir is headed to LMU. Jhakia McDonald left Arizona, attended Fullerton College, and will enroll at Long Beach State.
Seriously, are you paid for your writing? For a “left coast” expert, you’re sure leaving out some information.
As for the transfers, do you even know the situations? Do you know why Arizona, UW and Oregon State have seen mass exoduses? Or are you just going to take the word of an unnamed coach who wants to place the blame on the players?
If you’re more than a pretend journalist, you might ask why one program has 8 transfers with more on their way or why 5 players transferred immediately from another school.
Nice how you have nobody transferring out of UCLA, but include Regina Rogers as a transfer into UW from UCLA. Good editing.
Ah, thanks for the correction about McCormack. I had bad info.
This is the tuth about the University of Arizona situation….The twins were head cases who were removed from he team by administration before Butts ever got on campus….and Clements, Butler, and Nahinu were all recruited by Joan and simply had to go because they were occupying a scholarships and weren’t good enough…. Now yo can argue a case for clements but she knew Davellyn Whyte (Pac-10 Frosh of Year) was coming in and ran for the hills. Bottom line…They had to go!! It’s the nature of the beast. “BEAR DOWN” and GO CATS!!!
I don’t t think it’s fair to evaluate these transfers as necessarily being precipitated by a similar set of circumstances…
I think (some) of these players aren’t willing to pay their dues and earn playing time. Just because they were stars in high school doesn’t mean they are going to be “instant” stars in college. The transition to D1 ball usually does take time. Some don’t want to wait.
Others saw the writing on the wall and realized they had been recruited over and knew that, if they went elsewhere, they would get more playing time. They weren’t willing to accept their role as a non-starter.
For others, its just a matter of a program not being a good “fit” or personal/family issues. Some just didn’t want to play basketball any more or wanted to be closer to family.
And, last but not least, obviously, in terms of OSU, something is clearly going on, and it’s not good.
However, I should also consider where they will be after they graduate. Most will play in the WNBA. Even if they DO play pro ball, it won’t last forever. Getting a great education (on scholarship) is nothing to sneeze at.
mean’t to say most “WILL NOT” play in the WNBA…..
ooops….
-L
I cannot speak for all transfers but I know that anyone that transferred out of WSU had good reason. The coaching staff has chosen to single players out and treated them differently and make it obvious and apparent. You can’t miss it! No need for unrealistic expectations there, they lie and than lie about there lies. For those that stick around I give them a lot of credit, it can’t be easy. For those that transfer out the grass is greener even if they never pick up a basketball again. Being a coach doesn’t mean you have to be cruel!