The Brendan Sorsby saga, ultimately, reached what would have seemed to be its natural conclusion.
The process to reach that end, however, was anything but natural. That’s why, despite a satisfactory outcome, it’s hard to feel particularly satisfied about the situation.
When it became known that Sorsby bet not only on college football, but on his own team, that should have been the end of it – any discussion, any ambiguity and, most certainly, Sorsby’s collegiate career.
Instead, Texas Tech decided to try to see what it and Sorsby could get away with. And the Red Raiders nearly got away with it, too.
After a confounding judicial injunction allowing Sorsby to play, it took drastic threats from the Big 12 to get Sorsby and the Red Raiders to back down. It never should have come to that, and that, I think, is why I feel more concern now than at the start of this entire fiasco.
Texas Tech should have known that the best thing for the sport and Sorsby – even with and perhaps especially because of his gambling addiction – was for him to never take another college snap. Instead, they nearly took the thing the distance. Had they prevailed, it would have been a catastrophe for college sports.
It will forever be incredible to me that an institution of higher learning and a high-profile athletic department were willing to torch their own credibility and reputation on something so facially farcical.
Maybe the entire ordeal crystallizes the strain the entire collegiate sports industry is under and leads to the sort of sustainable change so many people are rooting for. Or maybe it’s just the latest in the line of bad behavior getting worse.
Recent history lends me little optimism.
What does give me hope, though, are the Register readers who sent along some great questions for the latest mailbag. Let’s get into some of them now.
Milan Momcilovic and Rocco Becht both put themselves as all-time ISU greats in their first 3 years. Are they still our all-time greats after transferring?
It’s going to be interesting to see how these sorts of situations play out, not just at Iowa State (which can add Audi Crooks to the above list), but across the country. Because the Cyclones aren’t and won’t be alone with these circumstances.
In the history of college sports, conventional wisdom would suggest that Momcilovic and Becht (and Crooks) are proverbially dead to Cyclone fans. On the precipice of the pinnacle of their collegiate careers, they left for bigger, better and bags of cash.
But that really doesn’t feel quite fair or appropriate anymore, does it?
Momcilovic took a payday that Iowa State couldn’t match, and with an NBA dalliance the Cyclones couldn’t wait for. Becht followed not only his head coach – a literal legend – but his offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to Penn State rather than play for a stranger as a senior. Crooks left a situation that seemed to have stagnated for what is reportedly a ton of money.
You can debate the merits and nuance of all those decisions, but they’re only going to become more commonplace.
Do you really want to be in a position where you’re more likely than not going to end up sports-hating your favorite players? That seems … not great.
Instead, I think fans are going to be better off viewing all of this more transactionally. Schools (and third parties) pay the players, who deliver their talent and skills to match the compensation. When those two ends meet, you call it a success and hope to run it back. If not, ‘C’est la vie,’ say the old folks.
It’s not a substitute for watching a player develop, grow and succeed over four or five years, but it’s better than growing to be irate with every player you ever love.
Which side of the ball will be more polished to start football season?
I think this is an easy one – the defense.
I’d expect Iowa State’s offense under coordinator Tyler Roehl to be something of a work in progress early – and maybe throughout – the season. Roehl is in his first FBS coordinator job (after winning two FCS national titles as a coordinator at North Dakota State), and he’s got a staff that he assembled from all over the country with a roster that is a complete question mark coming into the year.
Even the most optimistic outlooks for the offense have to account for the sheer level of ‘newness’ involved. Plans that seem sound and schemes that appear bulletproof in spring and summer can turn out not to be so come fall as the reality of competition arrives. That works both ways, too – things Iowa State might feel dicey about now might prove to be strengths.
My point is that there’s simply a much higher level of unknown on offense. Even if there’s real upside there with a unit that is expected to be led by quarterback Jaylen Raynor, the Cyclones’ highest-profile transfer portal pickup this winter.
Defensively, the Cyclones really are in a position to hit the ground running.
Head coach Jimmy Rogers, himself a longtime defensive assistant and coordinator, essentially imported his entire defensive staff from Washington State, which was essentially his staff at South Dakota State.
On the personnel front, Rogers has more familiar faces on defense, and the highest-profile players retained from former coach Matt Campbell’s roster were along the defensive line. Those are proven Power 4 players that maybe the offense can’t boast.
Continuity and familiarity aren’t the only measures of project success, but they are critical components. Iowa State’s defense is the leader in both heading into the fall.
Iowa State columnist Travis Hines has covered the Cyclones for the Des Moines Register and Ames Tribune since 2012. Contact him at thines@amestrib.com or (515) 284-8000. Follow him on X at @TravisHines21.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State mailbag: How should fans view legacies of transfer players?
Reporting by Travis Hines, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Travis Hines, Des Moines Register | USA TODAY Network
