Crimson Red Sports

There should be an introductory class offered to every football and basketball player at every university, called NCAA 101. It should be three credits, and also fulfill a foreign language requirement. The first semester alone could be dedicated to the NCAA’s transfer rules.

I would gladly teach it to you -- if I understood it.

Instead, I am sitting here staring at Bylaw 14.4.3.3.1.1 and can’t seem to get past the 3.1.1. It is dull, mind-numbing, boring text. Let me simplify it for you, NCAA:

Rule No. 1: If you don’t like the school you’re at, leave. (Feel free to follow your coach when he does it.)

When Maryland's Danny O'Brien, left, decided to transfer, coach Randy Edsall made it difficult. O'Brien has since enrolled at Wisconsin.
Rule No. 2: Should you decide to leave and play somewhere else, you must sit out one year.

Rule No. 3: If you have graduated with a year of eligibility remaining, throw yourself a party. Then, feel free to transfer to another school, play immediately and start working on another degree.

We’re talking about transfers here, not first-time home buying. Yet the paperwork is equally as baffling for many of the athletes trying to make a move. It’s impossible to figure out why some athletes are granted waivers and some are not. Why some are blocked by their coaches from going to certain schools and others are not. Why conference rules differ from NCAA rules. It’s sort of like … oh, I don’t know … the NCAA’s arbitrary way of handing out sanctions?