View from the East Friday, May 31, 2013 By Al Myatt

Transfer of power

By Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

East Carolina basketball coach Jeff Lebo is way ahead when it comes to transfers.

The memorable final shot, the last assist and MVP in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament were all produced by players who started their careers in locales other than ECU, which is representative to an extent of how business is transacted in college basketball these days.

Akeem Richmond drained the buzzer-beating 3-pointer which topped host Weber State 77-74. Richmond came to ECU from Rhode Island.

Miguel Paul set up the last shot with a drive and a dish. Paul went to Missouri out of high school.

Maurice Kemp, the tournament MVP, transferred to ECU from Miami Dade Junior College after playing a season at Alabama A&M.

Lebo claimed post player Ty Armstrong off of the scrap heap from Auburn, where he played for the Pirates coach before he was sidelined with a knee injury.

That leaves Robert Sampson and Paris Roberts-Campbell among the CIT prime time players and, of course, Sampson dismayed the Pirate Nation with the news he was leaving the ECU program before his senior season.

It was also announced that seldom-used and seemingly often-injured big man Yasin Kolo was leaving ECU when Sampson's departure was released. Kolo was a project, a Chad Wynn with work, at best.

Not too surprising then was the news that ECU's latest recruit was a transfer. Terry Whisnant, a shooter who refined his skills at Florida State, has joined the Pirate program. Whisnant must sit out a season before playing at ECU.

The Pirates are getting players from different directions — on the rebound from power conferences like Whisnant and Paul. They are getting guys like Kemp who feel like they can make it at a higher level. They are getting guys who want a change of scenery to get closer to home like Richmond. Lebo must feel more like a travel agent than a coach at times but he seems well-acclimated to what amounts to free agency in college basketball.

When it comes to piecing things together, whether the situation is dictated by injuries or new arrivals at the ECU terminal, Lebo has the skills of a quilt maker.

"We've had some success with those guys," Lebo said. "The landscape of college basketball and recruiting is changing. You're going to have close to 500 kids transfer this year."

The Pirates themselves are on the verge of a huge transfer from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference.

Lebo acquired a relevant statistic after attending meetings from both leagues earlier this month.

"Forty percent of freshman will not be in the program where they started in three years," noted the ECU coach. "That's quite a number. It's an amazing number that a lot of people really don't understand."

To Lebo's credit, he's making the frequency of player movement work for him rather than throw his hands up in despair and cluck like Chicken Little.

One and dones who fulfill the current requirement of one season out of high school before heading to the NBA are one factor in the 40 percent cited by the Pirates coach. Transfers would make up the bulk of the number.

If Kentucky's John Calipari is the face of playing the one and done game, Lebo is handling the emerging transfer phenomenon as well as anyone.

Jeff Goodman of College Basketball Insider had compiled a list of 425 transfers after spring semester in April of this year. That was in addition to 50 players who had departed programs at midseason.

The Pirates have another scholarship remaining due to the dual departures of Kolo and Sampson.

Lebo said there is a possibility that his program may add another player.

Sampson's exit is a mystery. Lebo has had nothing to say other than thanking him and wishing him well.

What was Sampson thinking? He had 12 points and eight rebounds in the CIT final and made the All-Tournament team. He averaged 29.9 minutes per game, third highest on the team in 2012-13, so playing time wouldn't have been an issue.

Sampson didn't answer a cell number provided by Jody Jones, ECU's basketball media relations coordinator. He apparently didn't answer the number when ECU coaches were trying to get in touch with him after the Pirates' best season ever. The questions of who was advising him and what he expected to gain by leaving ECU are still unanswered. He would have been a vital force had he stayed for his senior season. No word at this point where he will be playing next season.

There's no use crying over spilled milk.

"That's just the nature of the beast," Lebo said. "It's something that we all as coaches have to deal with. You've got 340 Division I teams. You have 500 transfers. You can do the math. That's over one, close to two on your team a year. ... Kids and families make their own decisions."

At this point those decisions have worked overwhelmingly in ECU's favor.

Still, personally, I can't help but wonder why Robert Sampson did what he did in the position he was in for the Pirates. It's hard to see how he might have helped his basketball future by leaving ECU when he did.

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PAGE UPDATED 05/31/13 07:58 AM.