Does Smith Have An Argument?

This is going to be an interesting discussion to make. Tubby Smith, head basketball coach at Memphis has made some waves around the college basketball world. In comments made in a recent interview, Smith expressed his displeasure with the high number of players transferring in college basketball, telling reporters the practice teaches athletes "to quit." Smith would go off on a bit of a rant during this interview on Sunday, saying to a degree that the new regulations that can allow players to transfer wherever they want.

"I've been in this business a long time, never seen anything like it," Smith said. "We had over 800 Division I players transfer last year. We're teaching them how to quit. That's what we're doing. Things not going well, let's quit."

"Somebody needs to tell (transfers), ‘You made a commitment. Stick to it.’ But it doesn’t happen like that. They have a lot of people in their ear. That’s the way life is.”

Now Tubby Smith does know a little something about College Basketball, having a coaching record of 595-301. A lot of players that he has gone on to coach have made it to the NBA. At the same time, this is coming from a guy who has bounced around with coaching positions in his career, making stops at Tulsa, Georgia, Kentucky, Minnesota, Texas Tech and his current position at Memphis. He quit Tulsa to go run Georgia, then quit there two years later to go run Kentucky. He then did the same thing there after ten years to go coach at Minnesota. So who exactly is he one to tell about jumping ship.

His argument is double sided though. I mean I can understand where he's coming from in that there is a lot of jumping around among the players going from school to school, something that could not only mess with their playing time, but just as important mess with their academics as well. I know it happens a lot but it still feels funny.

At the same time, there's the other side of the coin. Maybe jumping around to different schools will give an athlete a better shot at playing time then they would have at their old schools. I don't see this as a way of teaching kids how to quit. I see it possibly as finding an opportunity to make up their minds and make a move that they feel is best for them.

So does Smith actually have an argument?