| | By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
A day after Hall of Fame coach Bob Knight was fired, Indiana players threatened to transfer with at least one, junior Dane Fife, saying he would follow through on his intentions.
But transferring once a semester has begun isn't so easy. Neither is leaving for the NBA, which incoming freshman Jared Jeffries mentioned as a possible next move.
|  | | Indiana players Jeffrey Newton, left, and A.J. Moye contemplate their future after learning Monday teammate Dane Fife still plans on transferring. |
Fife said he would stick by his word, but still hasn't asked for a release from Indiana. Fife isn't alone in his emotional response to Knight's firing. Two sources close to the team told ESPN.com that sophomore forward Jeffrey Newton, junior forward Jarrad Odle, sophomore guard Tom Coverdale and freshmen guards Andre Owens and A.J. Moye have all threatened to leave.
But the NCAA rules prohibit free movement without a penalty. The normal penalty for transferring is a two-semester residence requirement, meaning any IU player who transfers wouldn't play in the 2000-01 season. But a further penalty facing current Hoosiers is that if they transfer to a school that has already had 12 days of classes, they cannot count that semester as part of their two-semester penalty.
This means that Fife, or the others, would have to sit out until December 2001 before they could play at schools already 12 days into the current semester. And for Fife, that would leave him with only three semesters of eligibility remaining at that new school. Most schools are on the semester system and already more than 12 days into classes. But there are some high-profile programs on the quarter system like UCLA, which doesn't start school until the last week of September.
The only chance to escape this clause is for a waiver to be granted by the NCAA. But, usually, only special circumstances, such as the case of former Hoosier Luke Recker, are enough to win an appeal. Recker, who started at IU, transferred to Arizona and then to Iowa after one semester in the desert. Recker, however, sat out only one semester at Iowa before he will be eligible this semester. Recker was involved in a car accident that left his close friend paralyzed and he wanted to be closer to her in the Midwest.
A coaching change isn't likely to be considered a special circumstance.
The significance of Fife not asking for a release yet is he now would have to pay for his first year of school if Indiana doesn't release him to his new school. Technically, a school can't make contact with the student without receiving a release.
Freshmen face an even tougher road in terms of transferring. Once they sign a national letter of intent to attend a school, if they don't honor it while eligible and don't go to a junior college, then the student loses two years of eligibility. But the NCAA said this harsh penalty has never been put on students. Most students file an appeal and can get the penalty reduced to one year or none at all.
Still, freshmen have to follow the same guidelines as sophomores, juniors and seniors when it comes to transferring after the 12th day of class.
Meanwhile, freshman all-American Jeffries said he doesn't want to sit out this season. He wants to play at Indiana for assistant Mike Davis. That doesn't mean he hasn't received calls about where he's going to go.
"I wouldn't sit out this whole season," Jeffries said. "I have a couple of options. If nothing works out, I'll look for the NBA."
Jeffries, like most eligible freshmen, doesn't want to sit out if he doesn't have to this season. He wants to play. One thing for sure, however, is he won't play this season in the NBA.
Chris Ekstrand, an editorial consultant for the NBA, said the rules are rigid for underclassmen. If a player has college eligibility remaining, or is a high school player, junior college player or foreign player, he must apply for the NBA Draft. Jeffries didn't apply for the 2000 draft. The next deadline is next May for the 2001 draft.
"If he didn't put his name in the last draft then he can't play in our league," Ekstrand said.
Jeffries could opt to play overseas, in the CBA, IBL or the ABA 2000. But all of those options could be more risky than playing for an interim coach at Indiana.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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