More problems with LOI's

Earlier this offseason we talked about transfers Justin Knox and Murphy Holloway, and how ridiculous it is that colleges can control where their players are allowed to go once they leave the program.

Luckily, both Knox and Holloway landed on their feet, with Knox headed to UNC to fill the void left by the Wear twins and Holloway walking on at South Carolina during the one year he has to sit out for transferring.

In that same post, we discussed Kyle Cain, a recruit that had signed an LOI with URI before getting word that he could play college ball at the high major level. So Cain asked out of his LOI, and Rhode Island granted him his release. Nothing messy, no restrictions on where he was allowed to go, and over the weekend Cain landed at Arizona State.

That's how it is supposed to be done.

If a player decides he no longer wants to attend the school he signed with, he should be allowed to leave.

But they aren't. By putting pen to paper, that player is sacrificing any choice he has in the direction of his basketball career. The coach he signed with is free to leave at any time, but if the player wants to leave and play elsewhere, the school is allowed to say no. If the school says yes, they are allowed to determine where that player in allowed to go. If the player stays, that coach is allowed to run the player out of school if he so chooses.

Sounds a bit unfair, right?

That's the NCAA for you.

This week we saw two examples of this.

First came DePaul. Walter Pitchford is a 6'10" center that signed with Jerry Wainwright before he resigned. Pitchford doesn't want to play for new DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell, so he asked for his release. What did DePaul say?:

"Despite recent media reports of Walter Pitchford being released from the National Letter of Intent he signed in November 2009, DePaul University is committed to Walter and is looking forward to him joining the program for the 2010-11 season," the statement said. "Walter showed nothing but enthusiasm to attend DePaul University throughout the recruiting process and since he signed the NLI to join the men's basketball program. At this time, the athletics department does not intend to grant the release, and has notified the NLI Steering Committee as its provisions require."

As you might imagine, this pissed off the Pitchford family.

"I called the athletic director [Jean Lenti Ponsetto] and told her we wanted our release," Walter Pitchford, Sr. said on Wednesday. "She said, 'We want to release him, but we want to recruit someone to take his place at the same time.' I said, 'Fine.' She also indicated to me that she had talked to the president, Father Dennis [Holtschneider], and he was in agreement in relation with Walter. I felt comfortable that at least we'll get Walter his release even if it takes 30 days. Then today, I hear he's been denied.

"When the president of the school and athletic director say he should get his release and something else happens, that concerns me a great deal. That's where I want to start -- right there with Father Dennis. Because she clearly relayed to me that she had talked to Father Dennis about Walter's situation, and that both of them agreed he should get his release. Now, we're looking at something different."

So, essentially what happened here is that DePaul told the Pitchford family that they could not have their release until the school recruited a player to fill Walter's roster spot. Since this is DePaul, and no one wants to go to DePaul because its DePaul, they were unable to do find someone. Now, DePaul will be forcing an 18 year old kid to come to a school he doesn't want to go to to play for a coach he doesn't want to play for because they need the body and because they can.

Their justification?

Pitchford showed nothing but enthusiasm during the recruiting process. While he was being recruited by a different coach.

Part of the reason that the NCAA won't allow LOI's to be voided when a coach leaves is that they believe a player should sign with a school, not with a coach. But the fact of the matter is that the players are more often than not going to be signing with the coach. Their goal is to get to the NBA. They are going to school to learn how to be professional basketball players. Its the same way that a kid that wants to be a doctor will go to a school with a good Pre-Med program. If, before he enrolls, the school has a drastic overhaul of that Pre-Med program, is anyone going to complain if the kid decides he wants to go to a different school?

Its a joke, and another example of how the kids that actually play don't have enough say over their future.

There's more, however.

Joseph Young, a 6'2" guard that was the prize of the Providence recruiting class, has decided that he no longer wants to attend the Rhode Island school. The reason he cites is an ill family member in his native Texas. Young notified Providence head coach Keno Davis that he wanted his release. Davis' response?:

Joseph Young signed a national letter-of-intent to attend Providence College and we expect that he'll honor that commitment.

Like the Pitchfords, the Youngs were not too happy about this:

"We're concerned about my sister," Michael Young said. "Sports and basketball, it is what it is. If that can work out and he's able to stay close to home and play this year, fine. Right now, we're done to talking to Providence. We have nothing else to talk about. Providence as we can see is not family. We put family first."

Again, this is ridiculous.

Regardless of how talented a player is, if he decides he doesn't want to go to a certain school, he should not be forced too.

I have spent enough time this spring talking about the issues with LOI's and how unfair they are to the athletes, so take this from a coaches perspective. You spend time, money, and energy trying to convince a kid to come to your school and play for you. You get him to commit and to sign an LOI. You bond with him and his family, and he takes up a valuable scholarship spot.

But somewhere along the way, like any break up, there is a disconnect. The player no longer wants to come to your school. He no longer wants to player for you. Let me repeat, he no longer wants to play for you. Is forcing him to go to a school, in this case Young to Providence, really what you want? This kid could be as talented as Allen Iverson, but if he is being forced into attending a school he doesn't want to go to, are you going to get the best out of him? If he going to be giving his best effort every day? Is he going to be happy there? Will he be bad mouthing the school and coach to recruits?

Why, if you are a coach, would you want to force a kid to go to a school he doesn't want to go to?

The answer is simple: you need the players, and you can.