Transfer rule giveth and taketh away

Imagine where Tulane's baseball team would be with the addition of a pitcher who owns a 4-0 record and a 2.38 ERA this season.

Now imagine where the Green Wave would be if you took away one of its pitchers who owns a 4-2 record and a 1.89 ERA.

If it wasn't for the free transfer rule, you'd have to imagine the Green Wave in that scenario. For years, coach Rick Jones has been a master of taking transfer players and watching them blossom with the Green Wave.

The second pitcher mentioned is current Green Wave right-hander Shooter Hunt, who transferred in from Virginia. Hunt joins Micah Owings, Cory Hahn and Wes Swackhamer as players who have made valuable contributions to Tulane after starting their college careers at other four-year schools.

The first pitcher mentioned is Stephen Porlier. Porlier is in his first season at Oklahoma after spending one season at Tulane. Neither Porlier or Hunt had to sit out a season after transferring because of college baseball's free transfer rule.

Now there is proposed legislation that would tweak the rule (read about it here). The rule has been good for almost every school and bad for almost every school. Want local proof? Ask NSU coach Mitch Gaspard, who has lost a No. 1 starter (Clayton Turner) to Texas A&M in 2005 and another solid starter (Dereck Cloeren) to Houston this season. However, NSU has a former Arkansas Razorback (Knox McQuorquodale) on its roster.