Big Ten coaches troubled by rising transfer rates

Nearly 1,000 names have been written on the NCAA's transfer list since the end of the season, and that's left the Big Ten's coaches baffled about how to deal with it.

"It's a vicious cycle," Northwestern coach Chris Collins said at the Big Ten's annual spring meetings, according to ESPN's Brian Bennett. "Where we're headed is ultimately free agency, and that's not a good thing."

In April, Michigan State's Tom Izzo voiced his concern for the rise in transfers, which have only continued to skyrocket.

At the meetings, Nebraska's Tim Miles attributed part of the problem to graduate transfers abusing their ability to play for a new team immediately. The Huskers coach said that permitting players to jump from one program to the next without consequence "doesn't foster or nurture accountability and other things that go with growing up."

NCAA data showed that under 25 percent of graduate transfers actually complete their master's degrees, Collins added. That figure suggests many student-athletes are staying in school to play basketball, rather than to advance their education.

Indiana coach Tom Crean concurred with the overall assessment that player movement must be slowed down, but said players deserve the right to find better situations at other schools. However, he added that student-athletes must also be accountable for the decisions they make when they commit to a program.

"They've got to understand, there's a big difference between jumping AAU teams in the middle of July," Crean said. "In so many cases, that's how people are brought up. 'I can change high school. Without penalty, I can change AAU teams by the week.'"