re: CJ West to Indiana

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How would this result in him winding up at IU instead of LSU lol

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I can’t believe I’m actually explaining this, but here we go..

From what I’ve read, he is transferring as a grad student but won’t actually be available to enroll until August (normally players enroll for the summer so that they can participate in workouts etc.). This means he isn’t actually graduating in May - he still has to complete a summer semester at Kent State before he can graduate. There are several risks that come out of this:

1. At best, this means you’re trusting that he will, in fact, handle his business over the summer and finish his degree. Keeping in mind that he may have to do so without the academic support he was receiving up to this point, since he will no longer be on the team at Kent State. His scholarship and all tutoring, services, etc. he received as a student athlete can be cancelled as soon as the spring semester ends.

2. At worst, it may mean that he’s a legit academic risk. There’s no reason he has to transfer as a graduate, as far as I understand. He could transfer immediately and finish his degree at his destination program. That is, unless he can’t because of an eligibility issue. Players have to be in good academic standing at the time of enrollment to transfer without sitting out. If he’s already dealing with a grades issue, that’s a big risk.

3. As I understand it, transfer commits aren’t bound to their destination schools until they actually enroll. It’s not like HS recruits where the NLI is binding before enrollment. So there’s also a potential risk that Kent State recruits him back to their roster over the summer.

People saying stuff like “oh, so he can get into IU but not LSU?” are showing their ignorance. In a case like this, the term “academic risk” or “grades risk” has nothing to do with whether the player can actually be admitted to the destination university. It has to do with the risk that he’s not eligible if/when he arrives on campus.

Consequently, the academic prestige of the destination school doesn’t really matter. What matters is the program’s risk tolerance. CJ West reportedly had offers from LSU, Michigan, FSU, etc. but wound up at Indiana. If there was an academic risk, it makes sense. The greater the talent upgrade relative your alternatives, the more likely you are to accept that risk. It’s the same reason Pookah Williams wound up at Kansas.