As the Final Four Finishes, a Parallel Transfer Season Plays Out, Too

Asked Friday if he was bothered by that, May shrugged. “I wasn’t accusing anyone,” he said. “I never said the word ‘poaching.’ I just said our players are being — there’s a lot of avenues to get directly to players now.”

He added: “I wasn’t complaining. It’s stating the obvious.”

Alijah Martin, a guard with two years of eligibility remaining, declined to say whether he was among the Owls who had been contacted about transferring. “That’s what’s going to happen when you play on good teams,” he said. “Other teams are going to want your help.” He added that May had handled the situation well: “Most coaches would immediately feel like you’ve been backstabbed.”

No school in the men’s Final Four — and perhaps in the country — has been as deeply immersed in the transfer world as San Diego State. It has been an integral element of the program for nearly a quarter-century.

When Steve Fisher, the former Michigan coach, lifted to life a moribund program, he did it largely by attracting talented players who were looking for a fresh start. When the Aztecs won the Mountain West tournament and reached the N.C.A.A. tournament in Fisher’s third season, in 2003, they started five transfers.

Since then, they have been a second home for West Coast players whose ambitions had changed. Xavier Thames, a bounce-back player from Washington State, was one of five transfers who in 2014 carried the Aztecs to a 31-5 record and the round of 16. Malachi Flynn, now with the Toronto Raptors, was one of three transfers who started in 2020, when the Aztecs were 30-2 before the N.C.A.A. tournament was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to Trammell, the Aztecs on Saturday will start Matt Bradley, a physical guard who began his career at California. Coming off the bench will be guard Micah Parrish, who transferred from Oakland, and forward Jaedon Ledee, who arrived via Texas Christian and Ohio State. “The transfer portal hasn’t changed our program too much,” said David Velasquez, an assistant coach at San Diego State who has been in the program for 21 years. “It did in terms of competition for transfers.”

The talent may not flow so freely next season. The N.C.A.A. recently sent a memo to schools indicating that it aims to rein in movement. Players would still be allowed a first transfer, and would be allowed to move again if they graduate without having to sit out a season. But if a player leaves a second school, he or she would have to apply for a waiver to be eligible immediately. Otherwise, players would have to sit out a year — as they had until recent years.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/01/sports/ncaabasketball/final-four-transfer-portal.html