You transfer, you sit out. Keep it simple, says Tulsa head coach Philip Montgomery.
In February, Georgia transfer Justin Fields was granted immediate eligibility at Ohio State. One month later, Ohio State transfer Tate Martell was granted immediate eligibility at Miami (FL). And this month, Coastal Carolina transfer Brock Hoffman (Virginia Tech) and Georgia transfer Luke Ford (Illinois) were widely expected to receive similar rulings from the NCAA in their waiver requests to play closer to ailing family members. Instead, both were rejected, which, again, has unleashed widespread fury on the NCAA's waiver process.
"I think we ought to put a blanket rule in there . . . to say, 'OK, if you want to transfers that's great, but if you do transfer, everybody's going to sit a year," Montgomery told HERO Sports this week. "If you graduate from the university then you get your year back at the back end of that deal.' "
Last week, the NCAA passed two new transfer rules, though neither (along with a rejected grad transfer rule) addressed waivers, which has become a contentious topic across college sports as NCAA makes inconsistent rulings. Entering his fifth season as Tulsa head coach, Montgomery has taken several transfers and watched others leave, including some arrivals and departures that were rejected immediate eligibility.
MORE: Gundy on 'Dangerous' Transfer Portal
"I think that would help not only us as coaches, I think it would help the NCAA and some of the things that are happening right now where you're trying to make judgments on this guy or that kid and the reasons why they're transferring," Montgomery added.
"Make it simple and easy."
It would certainly be simple, but would it be easy?
