Before you accept a college athletic scholarship read the fine print. Miami Hurricane quarterback Robert Marve wishes he had.
Two years, one season and 11 starts later, Marve has told his coach he wants to transfer. to a different school.
Robert Marve is trapped, at the mercy of the University of Miami and his football coach Randy Shannon. They have the power to block him from transferring to schools not only in the ACC, Miami's conference, but to other conferences as well and have exercised their right to limit his choice of schools.
That's right, in essence Miami and Coach Randy Shannon own Robert Marve and have the right to exercise undue influence over his future in college sports and where he wants to finish is college education.
How is that you ask? Read the fine print in his scholarship.
The NCAA allows and schools can prohibit student athletes from transferring from one school to another within the same conference.
Another rule often enforced is a D-1A wanting to transfer to another D-1A school must sit out a year before joining his future team.
Iona Key is a perfect example. He was a member of the 2006 Boise State Broncos and elected to transfer to the University of Utah.
Sitting out the 2007 season, he was a member of the Utes Team that played and upset Alabama in last nights Sugar Bowl.
D1-A athletes that don't wish to sit out a season can keep their eligibility and play transferring down to a D-1AA school or lower.
We saw that with the Louisville Cardinals. They had a back up quarterback whose senior year would have seen him as back up for Brohm.
Opting to transfer to a D1-AA team he became a starter and led his new school to the D1-AA national championship.
What makes Robert Marve's situation different? The way Randy Shannon and the University of Miami are treating him.
In an article published Yahoo Sports writer Dan Wetzel on January 2, 2009, Marve claimed the University of Miami had exceeded what is the standard practice and precluded him from transferring to 27 different colleges.
Not only was he prohibited from transferring to another ACC school, they prevented Marve from playing for any or the 12 SEC schools as well as 4 other Florida schools which includes a real threat to the Miami Hurricanes, Florida International. Robert Marve and his family are Florida residents. Wetzle's article states the young man's father resides in Tampa and suffers from prostate cancer. Though this is not the stated reason for transferring, it does stand to reason Marve would want to stay in Florida, close to his father.
The national media has picked up on this story and humiliated the Miami Hurricanes and the ACC Conference.
Wetzle reports in his January 2 article that Miami has relented some what. They will now allow Marve to transfer to the SEC but exclude LSU, Florida and Tennessee, alleging the SEC schools have tampered with the athlete, a charge Marve has denied through the Associated Press.
They are standing pat on banning Marve from playing for any Florida School.
Today we see the NCAA spending millions of dollars telling the " student athlete" these schools will take these kids and mold them into adults that will can go pro in something other than sports.
The Marve treatment says different, it tells us these kids are meat on the hoof for schools to promote their athletic programs, making millions for the schools and that their sports performances are more important then their education.
It is a shame the ACC Conference, University of Miami and the NCAA have treated Robert Marve so poorly.
In conclusion, if you are a student athlete being offered a college scholarship read the fine print. have your parents and high school coach involved in your acceptance process.
Ask the tough questions, ask what happens if you decide to transfer to a different school. It is your future, make sure you know what you are getting when you accept that college scholarship.
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