MP Hoops Scouting & Analysis

No one likes uncertainty. It, well, causes doubt, which is often a scary and unwanted feeling.

Transfers are rising in Michigan boys high school basketball. Players are taking things into their own hands and picking situations they want to play in.

This past season, East Lansing and Warren Lincoln won state championships with key transfers who never sat out a season. 2026 Mr. Basketball favorite K.J. Torbert led the Trojans, while Northern Iowa commit Geon Hutchins joined a great Abes squad.

Controversial topics lend themselves to plenty of opinions. One could argue a more open transfer situation is a player-forward philosophy. They wouldn’t be stuck playing for the coach and town they happen to live in.

I can relate. When I was in high school, I played for a military-like coach who wanted basketball to merge with football and tended to choose football players even if they couldn’t shoot or pass. I was forced to settle for backup PG.

Transferring, for me, would have meant my parents – who worked for the school district I was in – would have had to move, or I would have to sit out 180 days. That meant I would miss a golf season – which wasn’t happening.

The people who usually get most upset about transfers are coaches. Understandably, they don’t want to lose top-tier talent. But that’s not a reason for student-athletes to be forced into playing for that school if the situation isn’t best for them.

The current transfer situation is a mess. It seems like Russian Roulette as to which players get to transfer and play right away, versus those who are forced to sit out a season. It causes that dreaded uncertainty and confusion mentioned earlier.

Something needs to change. High school basketball should never be like the current college format, where players just get to transfer whenever they want. CBB is in a bad place because of that rule – or lack their of – surrounding transfers.

But I do think allowing Michigan student-athletes one free transfer would be greatly beneficial to them. It’s not about anyone other than kids and their families. If they think their current situation is not best for them, give them one chance to change that.

If a player wants to transfer a second time, they must sit out a year – no exceptions.

One free transfer would end confusion over a convoluted process and give players and parents a little bit of freedom to change a situation that may not be working for them.

Upperclassmen seeking a championship would also be able to find a contending team if they had not previously used their transfer.

I would like to see the power shift a little bit more towards the players and families. Giving them an opportunity to seek greener pastures if necessary. But it can never become like college basketball where individual student-athletes can transfer somewhere else every year.