I really hate the take that kids that seek transfers are somehow to blame here. Without available transfers, there is no accountability to their coaches either, and we don't need to look far to see that coaches aren't beyond reproach. If they're making progress toward a degree, and they either finish their degree at one of their schools or they get drafted in the NBA, then coilege has done its job in terms of preparing them for adulthood.
Are there examples of kids that don't pick up the needed skills or initiate transfers for bad reasons? Sure. But that makes them no different from anyone else, especially anyone else in the same age range. Critically looking at their situation and deciding that a change is needed? That is also an important life skill. Sometimes it doesn't work out. That's where personal responsibility comes in. Taking this choice away from the kids only serves the institutions that profit off the kids' talents.
I get the take. To me though, the solution isn't making college athletics basically an annual free agent bonanza. Change things so that coaches under contract can't bail on the kids as easily (and work right away). It's like "we" tend to find ways to break something else to make it even with the broken thing, rather than fixing the broken thing first.
The "school's profit off the kids" thing is true too. But a lot of folks place ZERO value on the scholarship / room & board money the full ride athletes are given. In exchange for playing on the team, they get a free education and degree (should they seal that deal), and always plenty of resources and support to ensure they stay academically eligible. Things that regular students usually have to pay extra for. But regardless, the value of that 4 year scholarship is probably over 6 figures for most schools. So I always cringe a little when we act like the kids get nothing in return for the school making big bucks. If you turned those scholarship dollars in to payrolls, a lot of big college basketball teams would have $300,000 to $600,000 payrolls annually. Major college football teams? A million+ I'm sure. Hell, Michigan or Alabama probably spend close to as much money in football scholarships a year as the Orioles are spending on their own payroll this year.
At many schools, the money brought in by the "big teams" helps fund a lot of the other sports and activities that go on too. So there are larger perks to the profit bigger than just a couple Mafia dons putting millions in their own pockets.
I'm fine with the student athletes being able to market and monetize themselves. Obviously the shady part is whether they're really doing it themselves, or parties who shouldn't be involved are pulling the strings.
There's no perfect solution. But what it's becoming is making the overall product less interesting to me personally. Seeing how a group / squad evolves over 4 years is way more compelling to me than learning a whole new set of names while watching their first game each winter.
