Big 12 ADs moving to adopt SEC-style transfer rule

A new rule proposed by the Big 12 and unanimously supported by conference athletic directors would ban member insitutions from accepting transfers with a history of sexual or violent misconduct.

The proposal, which will be presented to the conference Board of Directors in late October after further refinement by the athletic directors, comes just days after the ongoing scandal broke involving the Baylor Bears and Boise State Broncos transfer Sam Ukwuachu. The Texas native left Boise State in 2013 following a series of personal issues and then committed a sexual assault for which he was just convicted not long after arriving in Central Texas.

At issue in the scandal are what Baylor head coach Art Briles knew about Ukwuachu's troubled time in Boise, what Boise State head coach Chris Petersen knew about Ukwuachu, and why Baylor allowed Ukwuachu to continue to take classes after his indictment in 2014. Not to mention concerns about how the university conducted its investigation into the incident and why the county DA sealed the indictment, which helped keep the local media from learning of Ukwuachu's legal troubles.

The SEC adopted a similar policy in May that bans players dismissed from their previous school for serious misconduct:

The SEC defined "serious misconduct" as sexual assault, domestic violence or other forms of sexual violence. The rule excludes banning transfers if at a previous school the player had "limited discipline applied by a sports team, or temporary disciplinary action during an investigation."

However, Texas Longhorns men's athletic director Steve Patterson and women's athletic director Chris Plonsky both reportedly support a more stringent policy, though it's not yet clear what exactly that would entail.

Head football coach Charlie Strong has been outspoken about his opposition to giving such players a second chance.

"You know what, I look at it like this," Strong said on Saturday. "I have a player here at the University of Texas and look what he has. He has everything. He's on scholarship, he's playing at the highest level, he gets to go compete at the highest level, and everything. The facilities, the resources are here for him. Now, if he can't do what we ask him to do and if for some reason he's dismissed from this program, I don't know why he deserves a second chance to go to somewhere like Florida."

The second chance should happen at the original institution and for players with serious instances of misconduct, Strong believes that their football careers should be over.

If the Board of Directors eventually adopt the rule, as expected, that will at least be the case in the SEC and the Big 12.