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Cole Huff to leave Nevada, prohibited from transferring to at least 45 schools

cole huff'

Cole Huff, a 6-foot-8 sophomore forward, was a valuable contributor for Nevada this season, but recently made the decision to transfer from the school for his final two years of eligibility. The Wolf Pack has struggled with transfers in recent years -- three players decided Nevada wasn’t the best fit following the 2013 season -- and now that Huff has joined that list, there have been significant restrictions placed on where the forward can transfer.

According to Huff’s AAU coach, who also announced the news regarding Huff’s transfer, Huff is prohibited from transferring to any programs within the Mountain West, Pac-12, West Coast, or to any non-conference team on their 2014-15 schedule -- a total of 45 teams.

It is unclear what sort of precedent coach David Carter, and the Nevada athletic department, is trying to set with these restrictions. Huff wasn’t a great rebounder, but he was proficient when he stepped on to the floor, combining a soft touch within the arc (50 percent) with an accurate shooting stroke from deep (40 percent). However, Huff wasn’t the team’s best player -- that would be Deonte Burton -- nor was he one of the best in the Mountain West (a member of the all-MWC honorable mention squad). Huff was an improving and developing forward with potential.

Huff is a native of California, but it seems like the forward is being told if he wants to play at a high-major level, he better leave the west coast: the only way he’ll play for a BCS-conference school is if that team is in a league east of or around the Mississippi River. It’ll be interesting whether Nevada continues to restrict Huff’s next destination; in recent years, there has been backlash when a coach (like Bo Ryan or Phil Martelli) tried to limit or prohibit a player from taking the floor for a rival, geographical or otherwise, school, but there hasn’t been anything of this magnitude. News is quickly spreading throughout social media, and there has been a bit of backlash against Nevada for severely limiting Huff’s options. It is understandable that Carter would be upset Huff decided to leave; a surprising team during MWC play, the squad’s depth takes a significant and considerable hit without Huff, but the program’s actions seem draconian.

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