Once a way to celebrate those who have meant so much to a program, whether that was just two or three seasons to their entire collegiate career, senior day has certainly lost its luster over the past few years.
On Sunday, the Robert Morris men’s basketball program celebrated a trio of seniors – all that were there for two years or less. Head coach Andy Toole didn’t get a chance to recruit them out of high school and build that relationship early on. Instead, his 2024 senior class was comprised of transfers and zero program-grown recruits.
“Senior day’s not the same,” Toole said following the loss to Cleveland State. “Every last home game of the year should be ‘maybe you’ll be back next year day.’ These guys are at three schools, two schools. I love Markeese; love Josh; love Jackson. Those guys are unbelievable to coach and be around every day, so I don’t want to diminish their thing.”
Even though Toole has built great relationships with his current players, and ones that’ll certainly go beyond the court into the rest of their lives, the transfer portal has impacted the way players and programs mean to one another.
During the postgame press conference on Sunday, Toole acknowledged that Michigan State was playing on the television in the back of the room and how its traditions are changing because of the current landscape of college sports.
“Michigan State’s on,” he pointed out. “All those seniors go and kiss the court after when they get taken out on senior day – it’s not the same. It’s not like you were there four years and everybody watched your growth, watched your development, watched you improve. You hang out for a little bit; people cheer for you. It doesn’t have the same impact you used to have when guys were at one place for four or five years.”
Just a few years ago, it meant more for both the players and coaches to grow in one program.
“It’s a little more fun to have those extended relationships and extended experiences to see them grow from year-to-year,” Toole said. “It’s not the same as it was. Doesn’t mean it’s worse, it’s just what it is.”
While Toole is all for players having more of a choice, along with getting paid, he feels that it may lessen the overall relationship between coaching and being coached.
“I’m glad that guys are able to get money. That’s awesome. I have no problem with that. I just wish there was an ability to coach and work and teach and hold people accountable,” Toole said.
A few years back, RMU was hit with a bug that saw handful of players leave the program before the season was said and done. AJ Bramah (2020-21), Rasheem Dunn (2021-22) and Ferron Flavors Jr. (2021-22) were some of those that got up and left.
Since, Toole believes his program has moved past those issues and has built its culture back.
“We’ve really tried to get people with excellent character,” Toole said. “Our locker room is great. We have not had any real issues of any note in the last three years because guys have been great. They show up, they listen, they work.”
Now that Toole is looking to sustain the current culture and growth in his program, he was hoping that a ruling on two-time transfers would hold up to help settle down the transfer system. However, that was nullified, allowing players to be immediately eligible for this season.
“I was really hopeful that the NCAA who hold the line on the two-time transfers still having to sit out. That could potentially create a little bit of continuity in your program where you knew this kid had already transferred one time, he might have two or three years left with your program and you might be able to help them grow and maybe have some of that, but when they lost that battle, it created a system of chaos,” Toole said.
While the current structure of the transfer portal is still fresh for longtime coaches like Toole, the idea of transferring in general is not new, especially for Toole who transferred himself.
“I transferred, so I don’t fault people for doing it,” he said.
After two seasons at Elon (1998-2000), Toole admitted that he was pressed with a hard basketball related decision on whether to move on and transfer.
“I knew I was going to have to sit out a year. I knew that was part of the consequence of making that choice. I felt like it was worth it, and it ended up working out. At that point, 24 years ago, people thought there was something wrong with you: ‘How could you not want to keep your scholarship? How could you not want to be coached?’ Now, everybody leaves places and it’s like, ‘what’s wrong with the program.”
As one of the top players at Elon that season, Toole wanted to have a conversation with his coach about the prospects of leaving.
“I went in and told my coach, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about transferring.’ He said, ‘if that’s the way you feel, maybe you should leave.’ I was the leader in every statistical category and that was the first thing he said, ‘I’m real big on loyalty and if that’s the way you feel, then go.’ I was like, ‘oh, I didn’t come in here and say that I’m going, I came in here to say I have concerns and I’m thinking about this.’ He could’ve talked me into staying,” Toole said.
With little interference, Toole made the choice to transfer to Penn (2000-03) where he helped the Quakers to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances and was selected to a pair of All-Ivy League teams, respectively.
Nowadays, Toole takes some of those encounters and applies it to his current team.
“When we have some of those conversations with guys now, I think about that experience, and we try to have a conversation,” he said.
As Toole deals with the transfer portal, he understands why players may want to leave the program. However, he doesn’t quite grasp why players are so quick to do so.
During his spiel about everything touched upon so far, Toole shared a personal anecdote from his childhood on how his parents made him realize that he wasn’t allowed to quit.
“When I was my sons age was the first time I played outside of my town. I stunk when I played outside of my town. I concocted this scam that I was going to quit because I was doing terrible. I told my dad I was going to quit. I played for this guy that was the meanest person I ever met in my life. He would scream and yell at us at eight years old. I was terrified of the guy.
“We go down at practice on a Saturday and we get to the parking lot and my dad puts the car in park and I go to get out and my dad doesn’t move. I said, ‘what are you doing?’ He goes, ‘you’re quitting.’ At eight years old, I had to walk into the gym and (my coach) was waiting for me. He was like, ‘you’re not quitting. Start working harder.’ 10 minutes later, my dad came in and he had my gear for practice and I’m sure they concocted this plan. Start working harder, and I started to work harder and all of a sudden, I got better. It was an aha moment at eight years old.”
At a young age, Toole came to that realization that he needed to put in the work to get better. Now he sees young adults that are struggling to deal with that same idea.
“You have kids that are 20-year-old freshman that are getting told to get better at a, b, c or d, and they don’t understand that process because every time that they’ve been faced with, ‘I’m not the best player on the team, or I’m on the b team, or I got cut, then we just go and find another outlet to make you feel good about yourself,’ instead about going back to, ‘how about you work harder, how about you try harder, how about you practice more.’ If you don’t give effort, I don’t feel you get the right to be upset about the outcome,” Toole said.
Ultimately, the transfer portal has drastically changed the way players go about their collegiate careers, and for Toole and the rest of programs around the country, they are still coming to terms with how to handle it all.
