The last time we saw Tereke Eckwood in a 7A-West Conference game, he wore a Springdale High Bulldogs uniform.
He's now wearing the navy and Carolina blue of the crosstown Springdale Har-Ber Wildcats, who open conference play at Rogers High on Friday. Eckwood is joined by three other transfers on the Har-Ber roster -- Mason McNee (Bentonville), Avery Benson (Siloam Springs) and Kerry Knight (Jacksonville).
There are other transfers in the area, including Drake Wymer, who left Springdale to play football and basketball at Fayetteville, and quarterback Fuller Chandler, who announced recently he's transferring from Springdale to play next fall for Har-Ber. Junior Kyler Mahar transferred from Har-Ber to Springdale and is a starter for the Bulldog basketball team. But Eckwood, who said he transferred to Har-Ber so he can play with his younger brother, Tevin, is the most notable after helping lead Springdale in the Class 7A state championship game last spring.
Before anyone starts pointing fingers, I haven't seen any credible evidence of recruiting by high school coaches. The increase in transfers, I believe, is driven more by the players themselves and their parents rather than by some shenanigans from coaches.
Look around the country, where transfers for college and high school athletes have risen sharply in the past 15 years or more. The increase has been called an epidemic in some areas and that puts more pressure on school districts and athletic associations to ensure transfer requests are based on factors other than athletics. And it's happening all across Arkansas, and not just the Northwest corner.
"If you don't have solid transfer rules, parents are going to transfer their kids in athletics because they want a perceived better athletic opportunity," Indiana High School Athletic Association Commissioner Bobby Cox said in an article published by the National Federation of High School Associations. "They are not making academics their first and foremost consideration."
Lance Taylor, the executive director of the Arkansas Activities Association, which governs extracurricular activities in the state, said the AAA has a lengthy set of rules regarding transfers in its handbook. He disagreed that tighter restrictions regarding transfers by the AAA would reduce what appears to a rise in the number of transfers in Arkansas.
"Transfers happen all the time," said Taylor, who was a high school basketball coach for 10 years before joining the AAA. "If a player wants to transfer, it needs to be for academic reasons and not sports. That's the rule. When everybody obeys the rules, there's no problems. It's like driving 65 (miles per hour) on the highway. When someone chooses to break the rule and go faster, there are consequences and they can get caught."
According to statistics compiled by the NCAA, only 6.5 percent of college football players make it to the NFL. For basketball, only 1.2 percent of college players land on an NBA roster and 0.9 percent of players from women's team make it to the WNBA. But those numbers don't deter players and their parents from pursuing the dream, especially if they've got time and money involved.
Today's athletes are less willing to sit and wait their turn at a school, especially when they're convinced their talents can be put to better use elsewhere. Summer leagues also play a part, where a player scoring over 20 points a game may be reduced to averaging nine points a game in a structured high school environment. Friendships are also made on summer league teams between players from different schools, and these players often want those connections to carry-over to their high school teams.
To some, that's holding a player back and hurting his chance of getting a college scholarship. But you're treading into dangerous territory if you dare suggest to parents what's best for their children.
"We want kids to go to school where they feel comfortable and where they can reach their academic potential," said Wayne Stehlik, athletic director for Springdale Public Schools. "We have a process in place regarding transfer requests and, if that's what the parents want to do, we'll help to make it happen. But it has to be for academic reasons."
I remember some negative feedback Matt Jones and his parents received after Jones transferred from Van Buren to Fort Smith Northside his senior year. I'm not sure what academic reasons were given, but I know Jones wanted to play quarterback full-time after playing receiver and quarterback with the Pointers. The move likely helped Jones earn a scholarship as a quarterback at Arkansas after he was pursued as a receiver by schools like Oklahoma. His twin sisters also make a similar move from Van Buren to Northside.
Razorback fans would agree that move worked out pretty well.
Eckwood, who is committed to Central Missouri State, is off to a good start with Har-Ber, but the games will intensify this week with the start of conference play.
It promises to be another exciting year in the 7A-West, especially when players who've switched uniforms get to face their former teammates.
RICK FIRES IS A SPORTS WRITER FOR NWA NEWSPAPERS
Sports on 01/03/2015