Transfer Portal

[PondHockeyGuy]

Can you really get an advanced degree in only one year if you switch schools?

[robertearle]

Can you really get an advanced degree in only one year if you switch schools?

First, I don't know that there is any requirement that a "grad transfer" be working towards an advanced degree; just that they have graduated and have eligibility remaining. Many years ago, I spent a couple summers and one full semester adding an 'additional major' to my undergraduate degree; as if I had done a double-major, only I did them one after the other instead of at the same time.

Second, depending on how much undergrad course work might be applicable to the masters, yes, finishing a masters in two semesters instead of three is certainly possible, and there could certainly be masters programs which only require two semesters of work. (Though that plus playing a DI sport might be quite a load.)

[TonyTheTiger20]

A good number are women who started out to earn a four-year degree at a school, they've done that, but due to Covid, they have one more year. It doesn't necessarily mean that all were unhappy with their first choice, just that they never intended to get an advanced degree at that institution.

[robertearle]

So are the coaches by rule prohibited from announcing their pickups from the portal until a certain date?

None that I'm aware of.

Most often in the volleyball world, either the student-athlete posts something to social media, or someone - one school or the other - notes it in the actual 'portal' data base, and it becomes known from there.

[PSUfan]

Can you really get an advanced degree in only one year if you switch schools?

Depends on the program, the four PSU grad students this year all finished one year master's programs in the business school (MBA, corporate finance, etc.)

[Reddington]

Can you really get an advanced degree in only one year if you switch schools?

Yes, you can, but most likely a MS degree. Anyway, to expand on Scott TG's observation of lumping in fifth years with players from programs that brought in new coaches, you not only have to worry about new coaches not signing you in November to players who have yet to goto college, existing players have left in droves from programs after suffering through a year with the new coach. There is a lot to be looking at if you are at looking at schools, but do not overlook the tenure of the coach.

[Trillium]

A good number are women who started out to earn a four-year degree at a school, they've done that, but due to Covid, they have one more year. It doesn't necessarily mean that all were unhappy with their first choice, just that they never intended to get an advanced degree at that institution.

This is a little off-topic, but I feel that the decision the allow them an extra year of competition because of Covid was a really bad decision for hockey overall. The players already in college are now potentially also now getting an advanced degree paid for, while the blockage/backlog it created means many talented younger players born 2005/2006 totally missed out on the opportunity to play university hockey, and thus also get any financial assistance for a university education, at all. It really sucks.

[robertearle]

This is a little off-topic, but I feel that the decision the allow them an extra year of competition because of Covid was a really bad decision for hockey overall. The players already in college are now potentially also now getting an advanced degree paid for, while the blockage/backlog it created means many talented younger players born 2005/2006 totally missed out on the opportunity to play university hockey, and thus also get any financial assistance for a university education, at all. It really sucks.

Once more, they didn't get an "extra year". At best, they got an extra half-year. They were otherwise only going to get three years or three and a half if the 2020-21 season had been cancelled in its entirety. Nobody knew at the time how well or poorly that 2020-21 season was going to go. Had the NCAA not offered the 'relief' of not counting against their eligibility whatever did get played, nobody would have played. Nobody would have risked an entire year's eligibility on playing a few games and then having the rest cancelled. If that had happened, the 'backlog' of players right now would be even worse. The 2005/2006 players can redshirt and spread out the 'backlog'; they can choose 'other' schools to get more ice time, and the pool of talent will spread out wider, and we might get a more competitive environment. Nobody wanted this to happen; this was nobody's 'choice', it was circumstances beyond anyone's control. The NCAA did the best they could with the information they had at the time.

[BadgerPete]

Bilka and Barnes to Ohio State. Nadine reloads quickly.

[nobody72924]

Just announced, Hannah Bilka and Cayla Barnes going from Boston College to Ohio State. Coach Muzerall pounces quickly. Go Bucks!

https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/ohio-s...023-24-season/

[ARM]

Once more, they didn't get an "extra year". At best, they got an extra half-year.

Trillium's point isn't solely about competition. We also have to take into account the scholarship side of the equation. There must have been some percentage of potential players who were cut out of the scholarship picture entirely because they weren't "needed" on rosters due to these Covid players being around for an additional year. Or they didn't gain admission because they didn't have the extra push from the athletic department. You're correct that it was done with the motivation of being more fair to those directly impacted by Covid, but there was another segment of potential student athletes who ultimately paid a steep price.

Was there something that could have been done that would have been totally fair to everyone? No. But the decision reached definitely had its downsides as well.

[robertearle]

Trillium's point isn't solely about competition. We also have to take into account the scholarship side of the equation. There must have been some percentage of potential players who were cut out of the scholarship picture entirely because they weren't "needed" on rosters due to these Covid players being around for an additional year. Or they didn't gain admission because they didn't have the extra push from the athletic department. You're correct that it was done with the motivation of being more fair to those directly impacted by Covid, but there was another segment of potential student athletes who ultimately paid a steep price.

Was there something that could have been done that would have been totally fair to everyone? No. But the decision reached definitely had its downsides as well.

And a different decision might well have had a deeper downside.

Nobody chose this. Nobody wanted this. They did the best they could with the information available at the time.

[Rightnut]

Bilka and Barnes to Ohio State. Nadine reloads quickly.

Saw 3 OSU freshman in the portal. Muzzy clearing salary cap space for these two.

[Still Eeyore]

Trillium's point isn't solely about competition. We also have to take into account the scholarship side of the equation. There must have been some percentage of potential players who were cut out of the scholarship picture entirely because they weren't "needed" on rosters due to these Covid players being around for an additional year. Or they didn't gain admission because they didn't have the extra push from the athletic department. You're correct that it was done with the motivation of being more fair to those directly impacted by Covid, but there was another segment of potential student athletes who ultimately paid a steep price.

And, again, in a sport in which very few players redshirt, not offering the extra year of eligibility and then having the entire 2020-21 season canceled, would have made almost no difference in the backlog. Taking that season off would have meant that all of those players would have had just as much eligibility left in the hypothetical as they did in the real world. There are downsides to the current policy. In women's hockey, the downside you keep bringing up was not one of them.

[ARM]

And, again, in a sport in which very few players redshirt, not offering the extra year of eligibility and then having the entire 2020-21 season canceled, would have made almost no difference in the backlog.

Yeah, maybe. I don't have a solution that would be fair to everyone, and I recognized that at the time.