Junior guard Tra’Vaughn White announced his transfer last week. He started eight games as a shooting guard alongside sophomore point guard Derrick Colter.
Joey Sykes | The Duquesne Duke
It was announced last Thursday via a press release that junior guard Tra’Vaughn White of the Duquesne men’s basketball team will transfer.
Due to strict transfer regulations, players and coaches are not expected to give out much information. White, who was a transfer student last year from Independence Community College in Kansas City, Kan., tweeted “No choice but to make the best decision for me and my family… Appreciate all the support from the DU coaching staff.”
White played in all 30 games for the Dukes and started in eight. He logged 498 minutes and scored 221 points in his only season with Duquesne.
Head coach Jim Ferry stated that he enjoyed having White on his team and hopes he will succeed in the future wherever he ends up.
“Tra’Vaughn is a great kid and a great teammate who will always be part of our Duquesne family,” Ferry said in the press release. “He made the decision to pursue other opportunities and we, as a staff, are committed to supporting him in his transition. We wish him nothing but the best.”
With White transferring, junior forward Dominique McKoy will be the only senior on the Red & Blue’s roster for the 2014-15 season.
According to the NCAA, the rate of transfers among basketball players is relatively high compared to other sports. Around 40 percent of men’s basketball players who play Division I basketball out of high school end up transferring by the end of their sophomore year.
Ten basketball players – Mike Talley, Danny Herrera, T.J. McConnell, P.J Torres, Martins Abele, Marvin Binney, Mamadou Dott, Derrick Martin, Quevyn Winters and now Tra’Vaughn White leave since 2012.
According to the NCAA, around 90 percent of men’s basketball players who transferred did so because they left for athletic reasons. It is still unknown what the reasons were for White making the decision to leave.
Vice president of the Red & Blue Crew and sophomore business major Matt Geyer wishes he could have seen more of White but is pretty confident the team is still on the right track.
“I really would have liked to see how Tra’Vaughn would have played alongside [Colter] and I think there might be a lot more pressure on McKoy now since he is the last senior left on the roster,” Geyer said. “Sure this team is still in a rebuilding phase, but this shouldn’t be a problem for that process. Saying that, I still hope Tra’Vaughn does well wherever he ends up.”
Of the 455 basketball players to transfer within Division I last season, only 44 percent left to play for another Division I school. Most of them head to less competitive schools.
Sophomore psychology major, Eric Blau, doesn’t blame student athletes for wanting to get more playing time.
“I am not surprised at all and I don’t think anyone should be,” Blau said. “These guys like playing basketball and if they’re not playing enough at their first school, then they shouldn’t be judged for wanting to go somewhere else. They love the game.”
With White’s transfer, the Dukes roster for next year drops to 12 players. Seniors Ovie Soko and Jerry Jones graduate in a few weeks. It is now up to Ferry to find White’s replacement.
