Graduate transfer rule may be hurting UAlbany, other mid-majors

There are 351 colleges and universities playing Division I basketball, and, as would be expected, there is a large gap between schools that play in power conferences and those programs labeled as mid-majors.

That disparity may be getting wider, thanks to an unintended consequence of a decree created to reward college athletes for accelerated academic process.

The NCAA, which governs college athletics, adopted the graduate transfer rule in 2011. It allows a student-athlete who has earned an undergraduate degree to change schools without having to sit out a year.

Not allowing an undergraduate athlete to compete for one season after transferring, a rule that applies to football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and men's ice hockey, is intended to discourage players from changing schools. The graduate transfer rule erases that motivation.

"It's killing mid-majors," said Steve Lappas, former head coach at Manhattan, Villanova and Massachusetts, and now an analyst for CBS Sports.

You need to go no further than the University at Albany to see the detriment the rule has caused.

UAlbany was forced to rebuild its men's basketball roster after its two best players in 2017-18 decided to play their senior seasons elsewhere. Joe Cremo, a Scotia-Glenville High School graduate, moved on to Villanova. David Nichols, a Chicago native, is at Florida State. Both are enrolled in master's programs.

While the rule allows those who earn degrees to play without waiting a year — Cremo and Nichols participated in this year's NCAA Tournament — many fear that the athlete is taking precedent over the student.

"Our guys both graduated in three years legitimately, with 3.5-plus GPAs," UAlbany coach Will Brown said. "They did everything that we asked them to do academically. There were no...