NCAA’s ‘broken system’ to blame, more than Siena, for Shockers’ transfer sit-out: analysts

Controversy swirled in the aftermath of Wichita State men’s basketball coach Isaac Brown and star point guard Craig Porter pointing to Siena as the reason preventing two-time transfer Colby Rogers from playing this season for the Shockers.

“I feel like as an institution (Siena) shouldn’t hold a player back like that,” Porter said after WSU’s 83-52 exhibition win over Newman on Wednesday. “He’s just doing what’s best for him and his future. I feel like they shouldn’t be able to make that decision for him. He’s moving up in life and I feel like they’re trying to take him down because he’s making that better step for himself.”

Because Rogers already used his one-time free pass in the transfer portal to move from Cal Poly to Siena last season, he requires a waiver — essentially a blessing from his former school — approved by the NCAA to play immediately. While far from unanimous, it is common to see two-time transfers receive the waiver.

Siena, where Rogers averaged 14.1 points and earned all-conference MAAC honors last season, has refused to sign a No Participation Opportunity form, which states that the player was “no longer given an opportunity to participate… for reasons outside of the student-athlete’s control.”

“Siena wanted Colby to return to Siena, so we don’t think that signing a non-participation waiver is the right thing to do,” Siena said in a statement sent to The Eagle on Thursday. “Should the NCAA determine that Colby could play right away, that would be wonderful for him and Siena would not take issue with that outcome, but that part of the process is Colby, Wichita State and the NCAA’s responsibility, and not Siena’s.”

Wichita State thinks Siena coach Carm Maciariello is being vindictive, while Siena feels confident it is adhering to the rules everyone knew were set in place. A final ruling should be delivered from the NCAA sometime before WSU’s season-opener on Monday.

Which side is right? In an attempt to answer that question, The Eagle spoke with numerous national college basketball analysts and found the problem may not be on either side, but rather the NCAA’s flawed system.

How often is a No Participation Opportunity form signed?

Stadium’s Jeff Goodman (via text): “Most coaches just do it now. Don’t bother fighting it, even though so many aren’t really run-offs.”

Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney: “A lot of them have been given out and a lot of them are very obviously not a run-off. You see guys that are the team’s best players or leading scorers, like a Colby Rogers, and I think it’s safe to say, ‘I’m pretty sure that guy wasn’t run off.’ But you’re seeing an increasing number of situations where guys are still getting that waiver anyway.”

The Field of 68’s Rob Dauster: “There are a lot of coaches who will say, ‘Whatever. If you want to leave, I’ll sign the waiver, I don’t want to deal with this.’ But there are some other coaches who are going to do what Carm is doing and say, ‘I’m not signing anything, we wanted you back.’

Is Siena in the right or in the wrong?

Sweeney: “I don’t see a huge downside to a school in Siena’s position to say, ‘Let’s just move on.’ I had a few coaches text me in the aftermath of this and made a point about good karma. Coaches are superstitious and sometimes they view this as kind of paying it forward. But I also don’t see why Siena should have any obligation to sign something that’s blatantly false, just for the kid to play this year. I don’t think Siena owes Colby Rogers anything and I don’t think Colby Rogers owes Siena anything. The problem is the system requires Siena to be in the mix. Why does Siena get to decide whether or not Colby Rogers gets to play this season?” It’s easy to blame one person because he could sign a piece of paper and push it through and for one day, it would be great. But it wouldn’t solve the actual problem that we have.”

Dauster: “I think what Siena is saying is perfectly fair. They didn’t run him off. They wanted him to come back, so why would they sign a waiver saying they ran him off? The fact that the NCAA created these waivers when you know you’re not going to get the full, transparent truth from everybody is just a flawed system. But if I was Carm and I know Carm, he’s a really good dude. But if I was in this spot, I think I might just want to sign it just because I don’t think you want to deal with this. You’re not getting the kid back. I don’t know if the backlash and getting dinged on the recruiting trail is worth saying you stuck to your guns. But what can you do if you’re Siena? It’s a very difficult situation to be in because it puts pressure on programs with players leaving to sign the waiver, otherwise they’re going to have issues. And I also don’t love the way Wichita State went about this either, making it public and trying to put pressure on Siena. But that’s just the way the system is set up, it doesn’t prioritize the student-athlete. So I don’t think one party here looks great and one looks bad in this, it just is what it is.”

CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish: “My position on this topic is consistent: I think it’s morally wrong for any athletic department to stand in the way of a student-athlete being able to compete. I get being frustrated or disappointed or whatever, but, ultimately, athletic department officials should just take the high road, sign whatever needs to be signed and move on. Lots of coaches take that approach. It’s unfortunate that some still do not.”

What is wrong with the current NCAA transfer waiver process?

CBS Sports’ Jon Rothstein (via text): “I don’t understand the rules anymore. Are there any rules? There was supposed to be a one-time transfer waiver, but now it seems like most can transfer as many times as they want and be eligible. Others can’t? It would be nice if someone explained to us what was in play and what wasn’t.”

Sweeney: “It’s clearly a broken system when the only way a kid like Colby Rogers can be eligible is with his former school clearly lying. He clearly had an opportunity to play this upcoming season at Siena, so this just points to a bigger issue in the transfer portal age. I think when the one-time transfer rule came to be, coaches thought they could take a transfer and know that they will have them for a years because they can’t move on without sitting out. So that was a recruiting pitch. And this offseason made it very clear that isn’t always going to be the case. I think right now there’s a real need for NCAA-level clarity. Either make it an unlimited transfer rule where kids never have to sit out, which has been discussed and tabled, or you need to get rid of the run-off as a reason to not sit out the second time. Because at some point, people are going to keep abusing this rule and use it to convince schools that didn’t run off players to say they ran them off.”

Dauster: “The whole way that it’s set up right now is just a mess. I don’t think that creating a system where you need the former team to sign off is the right way to do it. At the same time, there are lots of real situations where coaches run off players and say, ‘You’re not going to be on scholarship next year, but we’ll sign the waiver and you’ll be eligible immediately if you don’t make a big fuss about it.’ It’s a good rule in theory, but it’s under the assumption that everyone is operating in good faith. It creates this loophole where when a guy leaves that the school didn’t want to leave, then the school looks bad if they don’t sign the waiver. So when you have 363 teams, you’re never going to have every rule be perfect and this is one of those situations that kind of slips through the cracks and now we’re just stuck between a rock and a hard place. I feel for Colby Rogers because I don’t believe there should be a rule in place where you should have to sit out.”