Steve Fisher vs. Kevin Young

Steve Fisher has a right to be mad at Kevin Young.

He does.

Eight months ago, Young, a transfer from Loyola Marymount with two years of eligibility remaining, signed a grant-in-aid agreement with San Diego State. Unlike a letter of intent, however, a grant-in-aid agreement is only binding for the school. Essentially, it guarantees that Young would have had a scholarship available to him had he decided to attend SDSU.

But he didn't.

Why?


Because Kansas came calling. Because one of the best basketball programs in the country, a school that won a national title in 2008 and was one VCU cinderella story away from making last year's Final Four, wanted him. Because a program that has a reputation for sending front court players to the NBA had a scholarship open and minutes available. Frankly, this was a no-brainer.

But that doesn't mean that Fisher should be happy about the decision.

"I'm disappointed that a young man who I am very fond of would not feel an obligation to honor an eight-month commitment," Aztecs coach Steve Fisher told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "And I'm equally disappointed in a program and coach I'm very fond of to pursue a player who made an eight-month commitment."

"Unfortunately, the only people who suffer in this situation is us because we passed over three or four very talented players because we did honor our commitment (to Young)."

He's right. Young was committed to the Aztecs. He did sign with them, and SDSU may have lost out on a some talented kids by holding on to this commitment. There is something to be said for giving your word -- for signing your name to a piece of paper -- and then backing out on it. So yes, technically speaking, Young screwed over Fisher and the Aztecs.

But according to Bill Self, Young had already told the Aztecs that he was no longer interested in going to SDSU. He had already de-committed.

"I don't blame coach Fisher for being disappointed at all because Kevin did commit to them," Self told the Lawrence Journal-World, “but Kevin also told them he wasn't going to San Diego State before we recruited him, so we didn’t steal him from San Diego State by any stretch."

"We would not have recruited Kevin if he was committed to San Diego State. He did de-commit from them before we pursued him at all. We did not recruit him until after he de-committed."

Frankly, this is refreshing to see.

Coaches have too much power over the kids they recruit and the players that suit up for them. They can control whether or not a player is allowed to transfer to a different school. They can force a player honor his letter of intent even if the situation surrounding the player's decision has changed. And they can do all this without facing penalty for leaving in the middle of a contract that they signed when a better opportunity arises.

Recent history is littered with examples of wrongdoing.

Mike Anderson is refusing to allow Rotnei Clarke to transfer out of Arkansas despite the fact that he is a new head coach that has granted releases to two of Clarke's former teammates. Anderson has also refused to let two of the five recruits that John Pelphrey had signed out of their letters of intent.

Last season, Keno Davis refused to allow Joseph Young out of his letter of intent. Young, if you remember, is a Houston native whose father was on the Houston coaching staff. He also had a sick grandmother living in Texas. Thanks to Davis -- who was fired after this past season (karma much?) -- Young had to sit out this past season and use up a year of his eligibility.

And that doesn't even scratch the surface.

Young had an opportunity to go and play for one of the best college basketball programs in the country. He'll be competing for Big 12 titles, playing on national television on a weekly basis, and have a legitimate shot at making a Final Four or winning a national title. What player would turn that down?

Perhaps the more important question is whether Steve Fisher would have turned down Oklahoma or Maryland or one of the other high-major jobs that came open this spring.

If Texas A&M had come calling, would Fisher have given a damn about the commitments of his SDSU recruits?