There were 14,818 high school athletic transfers recorded statewide in 2021-22, according to CIF statistics. Transfers have been embraced by so many schools, coaches and parents as the way to ensure that the rebuilding years never happen for a select group of successful schools.
The seniors leave, replaced by more seniors from other schools. Forget juniors and sophomores waiting their turn. It’s competition, baby. The best teenager begins. School choice, baby. Mom and Dad get to pick as they move as many times as they want, and the trainers don’t care.
It’s all legal, and it happens on a larger scale in college sports, where the transfer portal might one day have its own Dr. Pepper-sponsored TV show to announce who’s coming onto the portal.
There is a benefit to so many schools and parents who love the transfer game. Any time a school or a coach proves that you can still win with local players, it makes for a great story.
That happened last weekend at the state basketball championships in Sacramento, where Studio City Harvard-Westlake and coach David Rebibo won the non-transfer Open Division championship during the 2022-23 school year.
That’s extraordinary for a private school that can accept any student it wants, no matter where they live.
“It can be done,” said Terry Barnum, head of athletics. “It’s hard as hell, but it can be done.”
On their roster, the Wolverines have just one player who didn’t start at the school, senior Brady Dunlap, who arrived from Newhall Hart in 2020.
Other schools have embraced the transfer strategy, such as Chatsworth Sierra Canyon, which had six transfers on its roster this season and six last season, but did not win any championships. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame won its first state championship with the help of two transfers from Mouth of Wilson (Virginia) Oak Hill Academy, Caleb Foster and Mercy Miller.
The only private school to achieve non-transfer achievement in recent years was Torrance Bishop Montgomery in 2017, which had as its five starters seniors Ethan Thompson and Jordan Schakel, juniors David Singleton and Fletcher Tynen , and sophomore Gianni Hunt, all of whom had been there since their freshman year.
Transfers are not limited to private schools. When the Inglewood soccer program highlighted the 13 players who signed with college programs last month, 11 were transfers.
While transfers are legal, drafting is not.
The ambition to win at all costs can be seen in a 65-page investigative report from the Riverside Unified School District last December alleging that a former varsity basketball coach at Poly and members of the community engaged in a scheme used false documents to establish residency from 2018 to 2022 to register students ineligible for the program. The team was kicked out of the playoffs this season.
The decision to accept transfers will not end. Programs want attention. Studio City Campbell Hall could be next, with speculation that the Vikings are preparing to accept Sierra Canyon’s Bryce James, a move that would likely lead others to follow.
Just be careful what you wish for. The Southern Section and the City Section are still closely watching schools that accept multiple transfers in specific sports to make sure the rules are followed. The Harbor City Narbonne and LA Hawkins football programs in Section City have yet to fully recover from penalties imposed for using ineligible players.
Are the rewards worth the risks?
is always the question.
Kudos to Harvard-Westlake for showing that you can still win a championship at the highest level with players who show up as rookies, hold their ground, and continue to improve.
