By rule, the NCAA forces student-athletes transferring to other Division I schools to sit out for one season, barring special circumstances. There are two choices such student-athletes can make, said Ohio redshirt senior forward Jon Smith, who transferred to Ohio University from Saint Louis University after the 2009-10 season.
“It depends on how you handle it,” Smith said. “I’ve seen guys sit out and party their life away, and I’ve seen guys sit out and work themselves into the next year.”
This season’s Bobcats roster features two players who transferred from other Division I schools: redshirt junior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis, formerly of Texas Tech, and redshirt sophomore forward Treg Setty, who came to Ohio from Southern Illinois.
Smith credited the duo of Bobcats newcomers for choosing the more motivated approach and putting in the time to improve in their year away from competitive basketball. Willis and Setty have each seen at least 20 minutes of action off the bench through the first two games.
“That’s what Treg and Bean did,” Smith said. “They worked themselves hard, and they were always out (on the court) after games, working out, pushing themselves in practice. That’s really important.”
Willis, a Homer, La. native who was a starter during his sophomore season with the Red Raiders, said he used his transfer season to improve his game on the court and in the classroom.
"I was able to work everything that I was struggling in,” Willis said. “I was struggling in school at Texas Tech. I got here to clear my mind and to focus on getting my GPA high, focus on becoming better at the things that I wasn’t strong with at Texas Tech—my weaknesses.”
Setty’s year off was somewhat of a learning experience, he said.
“It was the first time since I was in second grade that I didn’t have basketball and wasn’t able to play,” Setty said. “It was different not having that outlet every other day or so, being able to get out and compete in front of a crowd.”
Each player said the year off taught them to take the time to study the game more intently and allowed them to transition into life at a new school more smoothly.
The decision to transfer came quickly for Setty, who played one season at Southern Illinois before taking his game to OU.
Homesickness played the most significant role for the Maysville, Ky. native, being that Carbondale, Ill., was too far a distance for the former all-Kentucky forward to be separated from his friends and family.
“I missed home, man,” Setty said. “I missed playing in front of my family. I missed playing in front of my friends. I missed the closeness of my family and the proximity. It was just a really tough year being that far away right out of high school.”
Willis said his familiarity with Jim Christian’s coaching style—Christian coached at Texas Christian while Willis was at Texas Tech—played the biggest role in his decision to transfer.
Once he made the trip to Athens, he said he was immediately sold and canceled his visits to other prospective schools.
Smith said that looking back on his transfer season, the year he spent off the court was one of the most beneficial things he could have hoped for.
“It’s not really hard,” Smith said. “It’s better to sit out, especially transferring to a new conference, a new system, a new coach.”
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