College sports face a new era, one where new transfer policies make choosing a school not a four-year commitment, but a one-year choice with a player option.
"I go back to my experiences as a junior college coach."
Bob Marlin believes his tenure at Pensacola State prepares him for the new landscape of roster management. Junior college players have just two years of eligibility, and each season teams are turned upside down.
"You try to get half your roster freshman, half your roster is sophomores, it never works out like that, but you coach year-to-year and try putting together a roster that can compete and win and that's where experience comes into play," he said.
The combination of an extra year for players and a one year free transfer created what some called a "free agent" market for college athletes. Marlin believes the chaos seen this year in the transfer portal will slow over the next few seasons.
"I don't think it can stay at this pace. When the first-time transfer popped up, it didn't mean every team transfer this year but that's how some players looked at it," he said.
Louisiana added a fourth transfer this week, Antwann Jones from Creighton. He joins joins Jordan Brown, Jalen Dalcourt and Greg Williams as incoming transfers. Louisiana lost Devin Butts, Mylik Wilson, Chris Spenkuck and Jacobi Gordon.
Marlin added that one issue he's seen facing players across the country is academic ineligibility for players whose credits don't transfer. Players must have 60-percent progress towards a degree after their third year, 80-percent after their fourth. Marlin said this could be an issue that faces more players as more and more transfer.
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