High school player transfers a growing problem

As in poker, where cards eventually must be shown, it is finally time for athletes rumored to be transferring to unveil their true intentions.

After weeks and even months of speculation, a new school year has begun across Southern California, enabling coaches to see who’s staying and who’s leaving.

No sport has become more consumed by the transfer game than high school basketball, where the maneuvering has been going on almost nonstop since the season ended.

Among the big winners are Sun Valley Village Christian, which picked up sophomores Bryan Alberts and Marsalis Johnson from Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, and Bellflower St. John Bosco, which gained brothers Isaac and Daniel Hamilton from Crenshaw and sophomore Kameron Murrell from Santa Ana Mater Dei.

Sophomore Namon Wright enrolled at Palmdale Highland after attending Sierra Canyon, Los Angeles Price and Pacific Hills last school year. Sophomore Shaqquan Aaron left Mater Dei for Woodland Hills Taft, and senior Anthony January also enrolled at Taft after playing at Compton.

Sophomore Ajon Efferson went from Taft to Pasadena. Senior Taj Adams moved from West Adams to Los Angeles Fairfax.

And there are plenty of others in boys’ and girls’ basketball.

In August, the Southern Section received transfer requests for 1,024 students from a variety of sports. In September, the number is 191 and rising.

Why does this matter? Because some people think it’s OK to form all-star teams through transfer students, and that goes against everything high school sports is supposed to be about.

It’s a big mess, particularly in basketball, and the question is: Who’s to blame?

Is it the CIF, whose rule barring sports-related transfers is so inconsistently enforced that not even Albert Einstein would be able to figure out why one transfer is eligible and another isn’t?

Is it the head coach who welcomes any and all transfers while hiring four or sometimes five assistants and insisting with a straight face that the assistants really do coach and aren’t on the bench to serve simply as babysitters and recruiters?

Is it the parent who only wants the best for his child and believes switching schools will lead to a college scholarship?

Is it the club coach who claims to have all kinds of influence and connections with colleges but hardly mentions academics to his players?

Is it the sportswriter who publicizes players from top schools, mostly ignores players from losing schools and doesn’t give enough credit to those schools playing by the rules who find a way to succeed with neighborhood kids?

Is it the private school principal under pressure to fill classrooms who allows a top athlete to enroll with questionable grades?

Yes, there’s a lot of blame to go around.

Not every transfer means a coach, school or parent is trying to circumvent rules. But we have unfortunately reached a point where every transfer has to be scrutinized because, as always, the few who abuse the rules ruin it for the many.

I’ll accept my responsibility in this growing fiasco. I decided long ago to employ the strategy of publicizing as many transfers as possible in the hope it might embarrass a school into action and create an environment for peer pressure to motivate people to change their ways.

That hasn’t worked. Schools and coaches openly seek transfers and couldn’t care less what I or the CIF thinks.

So I need to come up with a Plan B on how to keep people informed about player movement while trying to encourage others that it’s OK to stay at a neighborhood school that has a competent coach who works hard and cares about his players.

La Canada and Ventura won section championships last season in boys’ basketball with neighborhood students. Los Angeles Loyola is a private school winning without yearly transfers. They are three shining examples of how to succeed the old-fashioned way.

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

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