A large percentage of people believe it is AAU culture seeping into the college game. The grass is always greener, the player is always right, so why not move on?
It's not that simple, in my mind. That mentality is certainly prevalent in the current generation of basketball players, and I think a number of transfers - including some recent ones at Robert Morris - fall into that category.
Basketball players also seem to be less patient. With 13 scholarship spots available, every player believes he should be making an immediate impact. So when that doesn't materialize after a year or two, they feel they're not going to be a key cog at their current location so they decide to move on.
There are also 34 Division I coaching changes so far, with a few potentially to come depending on who is hired at the handful of remaining openings. Players - despite the advice of many around them - commit to the coaching staff, not the school. So when a coach leaves, the players often choose to leave.
I think there's also another factor in college basketball that doesn't hit as much in college football, and that's the fact that most schools still only offer one-year, renewable scholarships. If a coach doesn't like the progress a freshman or sophomore is making, that player can be "encouraged" to move on to a more suitable location. And look, with 343 Division I programs, there are bound to be a handful of players at the lower Division I levels who maybe a coach over-recruited. And through a combination of it not being a fit or the player realizing D-I isn't for him, they move on to a more appropriate level.
Finally, letters of intent are worthless, in my mind. They do nothing for the student athlete. They are security blankets for a coaching staff, and that is all. A player signing a LOI ends his recruitment. The only benefit is the calls from other schools stop once you sign. There are no other tangible benefits. The benefit for a coaching staff in that regard is huge. They can essentially stop worrying about that player being wooed by other teams. It gives them security knowing they will have that player as part of their future.
Here's a good article from SI.com about
where the value of the LOI resides, regardless of sport.
When you combine all of these factors, you have a lot of movement in college basketball during the offseason. And when you factor in a lot of the NCAA's arcane and ridiculous rules, it gets even worse.
