Drake star Liam Robbins transfers to Minnesota

[Da Coach]

I have a really,hard time trying to figure out the NCAA rationale re.what waivers are granted and which are not

Yeah, I am not sure there is any logic to it.
This is good for Liam Robbins and for Richard Pitino, the head coach of Minnesota. But he did not leave Drake because of a coaching change or because he was "run off". And he's from Davenport, Iowa, so he is clearly not transferring to be closer to home (Minneapolis is twice as far from his home as Des Moines is) or because of a family issue or related to the pandemic. His transfer does not fit with a single criteria that the NCAA has ever said it considers when granting a waiver. Plus, as noted on page 1 of this thread, there was a pretty good suspicion that there was some tampering involved, since Robbins' uncle just got a promotion to Associate Head Coach under Pitino right before Robbins announced he was leaving Drake.
Pretty much the only reason he got the waiver, IMO, is because the NCAA has always favored the Power 6 conference schools in these kinds of issues at the expense of the small schools and mid-majors.

[egib52]

Just out of curiosity, has the NCAA denied a waiver this year? I have not seen one waiver denied, and it seems like every school is announcing guys who have been granted waivers.

[Da Coach]

You are right, there haven't been many waiver requests denied. I have seen a few for football that were denied by the NCAA-

https://twitter.com/search?q=ncaa%20denied%20waiver&src=typed_query&f=live

And if there were any in basketball, I don't recall seeing them.

[bradleyfan124]

You are right, there haven't been many waiver requests denied. I have seen a few for football that were denied by the NCAA-

https://twitter.com/search?q=ncaa%20denied%20waiver&src=typed_query&f=live

And if there were any in basketball, I don't recall seeing them.

Could this be pandemic related?

[The Old Guy]

Robbins has been granted a waiver by NCAA so he will be eligible to play without sitting out a year. I know Robbins’ uncle is on the staff at Minnesota, but I would like to know if the uncle was already on the staff before Minnesota approached Robbins or was he part of a package deal to get Robbins to transfer. Regardless of the circumstances granting him a waiver just encourages the power conferences to continue to raid mid-major schools when the mid-major schools have a really good player. Hope Drake has a good season without him.

[Tommy]

Ed Conroy has been with Minnesota since 2016.

As far as the waivers go, I'm actually fine with them. It could potentially hurt some mid-majors, but at the same time, some kids may decide to leave Power Conference schools for more playing time or chances at tournament play with mid-majors. I think in the end, freedom to do what one wants is always the best option. Right now, the NCAA has no recognizable standard for who receives a waiver and who doesn't, so if they can't come up with something more solid, it just seems that much more unfair.

[Da Coach]

Robbins has been granted a waiver by NCAA so he will be eligible to play without sitting out a year. I know Robbins’ uncle is on the staff at Minnesota, but I would like to know if the uncle was already on the staff before Minnesota approached Robbins or was he part of a package deal to get Robbins to transfer....

Regarding a possible quid pro quo or "package deal", here is the timeline of events with documentation. You be the judge...

September 8, 2016 - As Tommy said, Liam Robbins' uncle, Ed Conroy was hired as an assistant coach by Minnesota's head coach Richard Pitino.
Conroy had 25 years of college coaching experience, including as head coach at Tulane & The Citadel, so it sounds like a good hire. He been fired the previous March by Tulane.
Conroy's hiring would not have had anything to do with his 7-foot nephew, since at that time, Liam Robbins was just starting his senior year of high school with little chance of getting D1 interest.

http://www.espn.com/espn/wire/_/section/ncb/id/17494068

Spring, 2017- Liam Robbins finished high school at a small, private Christian high school, Assumption Christian HS in Davenport, Iowa. He had NO offers in high school and was described as an overweight, clumsy big man (he weighed over 300 pounds). Robbins is a "lifelong Drake fan" and was hoping for an offer from Drake, but Drake interim head coach Jeff Rutter reportedly was not interested.

August, 2017- Liam Robbins enrolls at Sunrise Christian Academy for a post-grad year to try to get some D1 interest. He lost over 70 pounds, got down to 235 lbs., and improved his skills, but still didn't have any offers by the time his post-grad season ends.
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...es/4766935002/

March 29, 2018- Drake hired Darian DeVries as their new head coach
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...sketball-coach

April 17, 2018- Darian DeVries has 11 open scholarships to fill and sees Robbins as a project. Hoping he could develop into a usable big man in a couple years, he offers Robbins a scholarship, which was accepted-
https://www.kmaland.com/sports/forme...9b91d8bae.html

2018-2019- Robbins has an unimpressive freshman season at Drake. He averaged 11 minutes per game, 4.1 ppg, and 2.7 rpg-
2019-2020- Robbins suddenly develops into a dominant big man, and a 2nd team All-MVC center. His sophomore season he averaged 27 mpg, 14.1 ppg, and 7.1 rpg.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...robbins-1.html

Then it gets interesting-
April 4, 2020- At 12:02 pm, Liam Robbins announces he is leaving Drake and entering the NCAA transfer portal
https://twitter.com/liamrobbins_/sta...12285872467969
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...ce/2942751001/

April 4, 2020- Just a couple hours later, Robbins' uncle Ed Conroy was suddenly promoted to Associate Head Coach
https://twitter.com/Marcus_R_Fuller/...58363196051459
https://gophersports.com/news/2020/4...ead-coach.aspx

April 5, 2020- Barely 24 hours later, after his uncle receives a big promotion at Minnesota, and only 1 day after entering the transfer portal, Liam Robbins announces he will transfer to Minnesota without making an official visit.
https://twitter.com/liamrobbins_/sta...36126977454081

It sure sounds like a pre-arranged deal to me.

[Da Coach]

Just out of curiosity, has the NCAA denied a waiver this year? I have not seen one waiver denied, and it seems like every school is announcing guys who have been granted waivers.

Here is an instance of a transfer waiver that was denied. Leading scorer & point guard Michael Flowers (17.0 ppg) left Western Michigan after 3 years there and transferred to South Alabama, but was denied a waiver and will have to sit out a year.

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1303126315055411202

[egib52]

Here is an instance of a transfer waiver that was denied. Leading scorer & point guard Michael Flowers (17.0 ppg) left Western Michigan after 3 years there and transferred to South Alabama, but was denied a waiver and will have to sit out a year.
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/sta...26315055411202

I am STUNNED that one of the few happened at a midmajor.

[Tommy]

I am STUNNED that one of the few happened at a midmajor.

INDEED! Shocking!

[Da Coach]

Liam Robbins is starting at center and has been a part of Minnesota's successful start this season. Minnesota has not played the most difficult schedule through their first 6 games, but they were 6-0 to start the season before tonight-
Minnesota schedule and results- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...edule/_/id/135

Liam Robbins averaged 12.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, and 2.3 blocks per game through the first 6 games-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...7/liam-robbins

But tonight, Minnesota started their Big Ten schedule at Illinois, and got clobbered by the Illini 92-65 to drop to 6-1-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId=401263328

Robbins did not have a good game tonight. He had 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 block against the Illini, but he only played 16 minutes due to fouls, and fouled out. He also defended Illinois center Kofi Cockburn, who scored a career-high 33 points, and had a game-high 13 rebounds.
But Minnesota's biggest problem is their shooting. They are one of the worst shooting teams in the Big Ten at this early point (rank 13th out of 14 in FG% after tonight), and tonight they shot just 27.5%, and 25% from three. They are dead last in the Big Ten in 3 point FG% at 28.5%. Every other Big Ten team is at ≈32% or better.
Robbins was 4-8 from the field, but the other 4 starters combined were 7-37 (18.9%). So despite the good start, Minnesota will have a tough time competing in the Big Ten with those kinds of shooting percentages.

[egib52]

He left Drake because he thought he was too good, only to get dunked on by Kofi!!!

[Da Coach]

Speaking of transfers, the NCAA Division I Council just passed a rule that all transfers this year are now eligible.
Most transfers this year were granted waivers, but a few were not, so those can now play despite being denied a waiver.
This may affect some MVC players. One is Northern Iowa senior Goanar Mar, a transfer from George Mason, was denied his waiver. But now this ruling allows him to be immediately eligible.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30534080/division-transfers-all-sports-get-blanket-waiver-ncaa-play-immediately