University of Oregon's propensity to poach other programs top athletes: What do NCAA coaches/fans think?

I do not think we help track & field by having the NCAA championship at Eugene every year. We do however help the University of Oregon.

Alright, lets remove those who transferred as 5th year seniors, as it seems like a legitimate way to shake things up for someone who already has their undergrad and potentially can't compete for their previous college anyway.

2017 D1 Transfers to Oregon

Women:

Carmela Baez: Florida State's top 3000/5000m runner (9:18/16:07) in 2017 indoor

Chaquin Cook: Portland State's top triple jumper (12.82m) in 2016 outdoor

Kerissa D'Arpino: Oregon State's top 100m runner (11.77) in 2016 outdoor and top 200 (24.65) in 2017 indoor

Venessa D'Arpino: Oregon State's top 100/200/400 runner (11.70/23.60/54.14) in 2017 outdoor

Amanda Gehrich: Utah's top 1500 runner (4:22) and #2 XC runner

Elexis Guster: Iowa's top 200/400 talent (23.03/51.85) in 2016

Judy Pendergast: Harvard's top 1500/5000 runner (4:26/16:22) for 2017 outdoor

Ruby Stauber: LSU's #1 800/1500 runner (2:03 - 4:24)

2016 D1 Transfers to Oregon

Women:

Hannah Cunliffe: Oklahoma's top sprinter (7.28-60m)

Brooke Feldmeier: Mississippi's top MD runner (2:03)

2014 D1 Transfers to Oregon

Emma Abrahamson: Vanderbilt's top recruit in 2014

Eric Jenkins: Northeastern's top runner

Waverly Neer: Columbia's top runner

There was a time when just about anyone could try to walk on at Oregon, at least for distance.

I don’t see athletes attending the schools they wish to attend as being any kind of problems at all. To the contrary, I see it as a positive.

John Utah wrote:

I don’t see athletes attending the schools they wish to attend as being any kind of problems at all. To the contrary, I see it as a positive.

The problem is when those athletes are persuaded to attend a school they didn't seem to want to attend initially. The question is why do they suddenly want to go to Oregon? Maybe getting a free ride through classes has something to do with it?

Jane Ohio wrote:

John Utah wrote:

I don’t see athletes attending the schools they wish to attend as being any kind of problems at all. To the contrary, I see it as a positive.

The problem is when those athletes are persuaded to attend a school they didn't seem to want to attend initially. The question is why do they suddenly want to go to Oregon? Maybe getting a free ride through classes has something to do with it?

https://www.dailyemerald.com/2017/12/21/track-field-mens-womens-basketball-receive-notice-infractions-ncaa/

I always thought this was odd how good runners would transfer there every year. Fishy.

How did the transfers do at Regionals?

An Ivy Leaguer going to Oregon for a 5th year, academically. is like a 19 year old high school kid going back to jumior high.

Didn't Hoey transfer from Penn State to Oregon?

Maybe Oregon isn't actively recruiting them. Maybe the aura of Oregon from the movies and the championship meets and Prefontaine Classic and the national championships make a lot of track and field athletes want to compete at Oregon, especially when they see themselves as plateauing at their previous schools? But it does beg the question of whether:

1) Oregon is constantly taking scholarships away from injured or weak-performing athletes who entered with scholarships;

or 2) the promise of Nike post-graduate sponsorship and jobs for ex-Oregon athletes is the lure.

waltertompatton wrote:

I do not think we help track & field by having the NCAA championship at Eugene every year. We do however help the University of Oregon.

Do what for a sport whose only purpose is so the NCAA can pretend they aren't running billion dollar sports?

Not a lot of data, but based upon this group it looks like if you're a mid-distance or distance runner you shouldn't count on improving much, if at all. However, if you're a sprinter or jumper there is a real chance you could PR.

2017 D1 Transfers to Oregon

Women:

Carmela Baez: Florida State's top 3000/5000m runner (9:18/16:07) in 2017 indoor

2018 SB 5000/10000: 16:12/33:24 - No improvement

Chaquin Cook: Portland State's top triple jumper (12.82m) in 2016 outdoor

2018 SB TJ: 13.89m - Improved

Kerissa D'Arpino: Oregon State's top 100m runner (11.77) in 2016 outdoor and top 200 (24.65) in 2017 indoor

2018 - Redshirt

Venessa D'Arpino: Oregon State's top 100/200/400 runner (11.70/23.60/54.14) in 2017 outdoor

2018 100 - 11.48/23.21/52.78 - Improved

Amanda Gehrich: Utah's top 1500 runner (4:22) and #2 XC runner

2018 1500 - 4:24 - Stagnant

Judy Pendergast: Harvard's top 1500/5000 runner (4:26/16:22) for 2017 outdoor

2018 1500/Steeple - 4:31/10:35 - Slight loss of fitness

Ruby Stauber: LSU's #1 800/1500 runner (2:03 - 4:24)

2018 Redshirt?

2016 D1 Transfers to Oregon

Women:

Brooke Feldmeier: Mississippi's top MD runner (2:03)

2018 Redshirt?

Carmela was a cross country All

American and ran 15:55, debuted at 33:24 for 10k. Amanda for hurt at the Pac-12 meet, need more time to evaluate that one. Not sure what's up with Pendergast. Nadel from Georgetown dropped 16:04 to 15:41 and debuted 33:01. Southerland from Georgetown dropped to 2:00.7 and won NCAA indoor.

Southerland is killing it right now. May be able to keep the Duck Streak going for the 5th year in a row for the w800 title, with four indoor titles out of five as well. They know how to coach the women's 800.

Nsnskan wrote:

The real morons are the ones that left Harvard, Dartmouth, and Georgetown. None of these clowns will make a living off of running. A degree from an ivy or other prestigious schools carries real weight in the business world. That will pay you back. University of Oregon academics are about as rigorous as your local elementary school. They’ll realize this mistake eventually.

Actually they take their Ivy League bachelors degree to Oregon to get some useless Masters degree but the key is they get the connections to get a cushy 150k-200k Nike desk job as a 24 year old. What’s your salary?

Kids make the choice themselves. The school doesn't decide. Example: Rai Benjamin left UCLA #2 Olympic Medal school to transfer 12 miles down the busy Los Angeles streets to USC #1 Olympic Medal school.

RunDuxRun wrote:

Carmela was a cross country All

American and ran 15:55, debuted at 33:24 for 10k. Amanda for hurt at the Pac-12 meet, need more time to evaluate that one. Not sure what's up with Pendergast. Nadel from Georgetown dropped 16:04 to 15:41 and debuted 33:01. Southerland from Georgetown dropped to 2:00.7 and won NCAA indoor.

Thanks for pointing that out about Carmela. I was only looking at this past outdoor track season where she didn't quite match her indoor fitness. Maybe that's a testament to the power of a hard XC season followed by 2 months of training and then racing every other weekend for a short spell.

Nadel is in her 6th year of college, right? It's tough to judge how much of her improvement is from switching schools versus having different academic load and perspective in general compared to when she was at Georgetown starting in 2012. Additionally, from a weather perspective I could see Oregon being far superior to Georgetown in regards to more consistent training. The further you get from the equator in general the slower people get.

Do they serve poached eggs?

Nadel and Southerland both graduated from Gtwn, so it seems like a reasonable move if one is interested in continuing with running to see if you can make it as a pro. Gtwn also had some fifth year runners transfer to Stanford and NAU. Gtwn also had coaching changes around same time.

Interesting question re Gtwn is what is happening with the women's program. Huge fall off in performance over past two years-is it new coach, athletes, random bad luck.