Satisfaction not guaranteed

Sporting News, The, Dec 23, 1996 by Steve Harrison

Jones struggled playing out of position, or in position--he played wherever he wanted at Northeast Mississippi and was initially an inside player at Mississippi State--he struggled learning a new system and he struggled playing with teammates who were his equal. Furthermore, he often tried too hard, turning the ball over, and coach Richard Williams benched him. Then in the SEC Tournament he broke out. The Bulldogs went to the Final Four, and Jones went to the NBA after one season on campus. Other hyped transfers though, haven't adjusted as fast--or at all.

Cleveland Jackson, a 6-5 swingman who was a first-team All-American in 1991-92, came to Georgia from Butler County (Kan.) Community College as the marquee player of what was supposed to be Hugh Durham's best recruiting class. But a pulled hamstring forced Jackson to miss the first month of practice. He showed signs of promise as a junior, but by his senior season he had faded. During Jackson's Georgia career, the Bulldogs were 29-30.

"The most difficult thing is they have to learn two new systems," Durham says. "To get more specific with Cleveland, he got hurt at the start of the second week of practice and you can't learn a system by observation. With a junior college player, that's one of the things that holds them back.

"When a junior college player suits it up (in the JC ranks), he's playing against someone with just one year of experience at the most (At a four-year school), he's new and he has (no experience). I think the systems are set up for players staying three or four years. The systems are a little more complex."

Covington "Cup" Cormier was an unknown high school player in Louisiana who blossomed into what some considered the best junior college point guard in 1991-92. As Jim Calhoun's ton recruit at Connecticut, Cormier, from Clarendon (Texas) College, was supposed to replace sophomore Kevin Ollie as the starter. Instead, Cormier lit a fire under Ollie, and Cormier, who seemed to suffer from culture shock, never started. He transferred to Utah State, where he averaged 7.8 points in 1994-95.

"It's a difficult transition no matter what level," McLennan coach Steve Shields says. "We only have these kids for one year. We can't go in and place a high emphasis on a passing game that Roy Williams uses."

False advertising

For every Latrell Sprewell, there has been a Darrin Hancock, the 1991-92 JC Player of the Year who played one middling season for Kansas before leaving. Or a Mark Hotton, deemed by coaches as "Stacey Augmon with a jump shot," who was supposed to make Auburn the SEC West champs in 1992-93. The Tigers were 15-12. Or a Willie Cauley, a "phenom" forward who came to Pittsburgh in 1992 and struggled on and off the court be fore academic difficulties cost him his scholarship for his senior year.

Basically, most transfers are one-hit wonders. Keith Smart was a pleasant surprise because he was a surprise; today, he would be hyped as "Instant Impact Player," the subject of fawning magazine and television profiles. Ten years ago, the disappointments simply disappeared because, well, we had never heard of them in the first place. Is it any wonder that of the past 10 NCAA champions, only four--Indiana ('87), Kansas ('88), UNLV ('90) and Arkansas ('94)--had any JC players?