Wondering

What you're talking about is the APR and

you don't want to even have to begin to figure it out! You're correct though in that athletes who transfer do hurt the school even if they are in good academic standing when they do. Want to know the APR of your favorite program go here:

http://www.ncaa.org/wps/ncaa?ContentID=329

Want to read an opinion about the process that is shared by many go here:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2350199

 

Player retention...

.....hey Duke, you're right, APR is a tough rule to follow. Here it is in laymens terms. In D1 only, all scholarship athletes have the 'consecutive" semester rule, ie 5 yrs to finish 4.
If a kid leaves a school because he/she.....had bad grades, or was homesick, or playing time, etc. then there are negative ramifications to that program.
The penalty for 1 kid to leave is not a direct "loss of scholarship" money for the coach to use. BUT, if a bunch of kids leave, then the APR kicks in.
A VERY reliable source explains it this way.
In football, theres what 80 scholarships? The APR in D1 football is 4.20.
That means if enough kids leave a program, and by them leaving, carries a .5, or 1.0 penalty that accumulates with other kids that leave, and then the 4.20 APR "threshold" has been breached, then the football team loses scholarship $.
It gets way more detailed than that, but I think this explains the gist of the rule.
It appears to me that the APR is a good thing from a players view. The program has a vested interest in him/her sticking it out and graduating on time. That means the coaches will work hard to see that a player gets their time as long as the player puts in the time.
Also, it appears to me, that the onus is on the coach to be DAMN sure they're really interested in recruiting one player or another.
It sure does'nt hurt a kids chances in recruiting when they, the kid, shows the coach that they truly want to play/graduate from a particular school.

 

I don't like it for one reason - the major D 1 schools will develop watered down degrees to ensure that players graduate. I have already heard several non - softball coaches mention that they are lobbying administration to develop majors that are "in tune" with the scholarship athletes.

 

This has been going on for years

At Kentucky in the mid '70's most football players received degrees we called 'Blue Grass Specials' (actually Bachelors of General Studies). Do some research into the degrees that many Duke basketball players receive.