Dumb Non-Rule

I wholeheartedly believe that college basketball is the greatest sport in this country because of its purity. However, there is something so "impure" about the refusal of schools to let an incoming student out of a letter of intent when a coach switches programs. This happens a lot in college basketball and is highlighted in the Michael Beasley situation. Michael Beasley, arguably the best prospect in this years incoming freshman class, committed to the Huggy Bear at K-State. Although he is widely considered a one and done player no matter where he attends college, I still feel for the kid.

We all know the situation. The Huggy Bear left Manhattan in order to coach his alma mater, who he spurned years prior to stay at Cincy. Although you don't have to like the move, it is totally understandable. However, when Beasley went to get out of his letter of intent, Kansas State refused so now Beasley has two options: suck it up and play for a coach, Frank Martin, who was banned from high school bball in Florida or do a year in prep school until he can enter the 2008 NBA Draft. Beasley appears to be poised to take the high road and go to K-State.

When asked why they wouldn't let Beasley out of the letter of intent, they stated that the school had spent a great deal of money on recruiting resources. That's BS and everyone knows it. They didn't want to let Beasley go because a player of his stature could help generate interest and revenue in K-State bball and/or risk the possibility of him going elsewhere.

This is ludicrous. Over the course of the recruiting process, a kid/family buys into the coach more than the school. So now Beasley is stuck between a rock and a hard place. And look, I'm not trying to single out K-State because this happens everywhere. However, it didn't happen at Duke in 2004.

After the 2003 season, Duke was primed to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament and most likely contend for the national title. They were returning Senior PG Chris Duhon, Junior SG Daniel Ewing, both upperclassmen as well as an array of talented, seasoned sophomores in JJ Redick, Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph, and Sean Dockery. They also had signed the best recruiting class in the country, which was headlined by the best high school prospect not named LeBron James in Luol Deng. But what is forgotten is that Kris Humphries, another big-time PF, was on his way to Duke. However, Humphries had issues with possible playing time so he wanted out of his letter of intent. So here Duke was...on the cusp of contending for a title, no coaching change imminent and what did they do? They let the kid out of his letter of intent because they didn't want the kid to be there against his will. Didn't Duke put a ton of money into recruiting Humphries? So, why can they let him out of a letter of intent but K-State can't when there is a valid reason to do so?

I will always contend that Duke would've won the NCAA Title in 2004 with Humphries at Duke. He was the piece missing from a team that made the Final 4 that year and lost to the eventual national champion, UCONN 79-78.

There should be a rule in place where the school has to let the kid out of the letter of intent. However, he can't pick up and follow that coach to the other school either unless he pays the ultimate price, sitting out a year and transferring. It just doesn't seem fair...