Transfer Transfusion: Odds Against David Collette Becoming Utah All-American

"Stepping onto a brand new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation which is not nurturing." - Maya Angelou

Whether schools are simply filling out a roster with a backup or chasing a pot of gold at the end of a Larry Bird rainbow, they seem to be looking around every corner and under every rock for a transfer. Bird left a potential powerhouse at Indiana but never played for the Hoosiers before becoming national player of the year with Indiana State. It would have been more surprising if the transition was in reverse and Bird became an A-A at IU after leaving ISU.

How many All-Americans actually played varsity basketball for two different four-year schools such as Gonzaga's Kyle Wiltjer? The average is about one every two years but the vast majority of them began their collegiate careers like Bird and Wiltjer at a power conference member. Thus the odds are against David Collette earning national acclaim with Utah after leaving Utah State following a promising freshman campaign for the Aggies. Guards Damion Lee, Louisville's leading scorer after transferring from Drexel, and Stefan Moody, Ole Miss' juco jewel after beginning his career at Florida Atlantic, are this season's most promising candidates to go from peon to pedestal.

Before Utah moved up the conference food chain by joining the Pacific-12, the Utes lost a transfer, Art Bunte, who became an A-A with Colorado. Bunte is one of the few transfer players on the following alphabetical list of power-league All-Americans who began their collegiate career with a mid-major four-year school: