These transfers are ready to contribute
now 
September, 22, 2009
09/22/09
9:43
AM ET
By Doug Gottlieb
College sports can be funny sometimes. On campuses all around the country, the backup quarterback is generally the fan favorite in football; on the basketball side, the transfer is the one everybody talks about. Transfers leave their first school for a variety of reasons. Grades, playing time, rules violations, a girl, being homesick, you name it. But there are some great players who have played at more than one school.
As a part of the Oklahoma State program and a transfer myself, I know a ton about sitting out (though I sat out at a juco and did not play). The first couple of games back, you're so ready to go that you feel as though you've been fired out of a cannon.
Oklahoma State has had plenty of success with transfers, with first-round picks such as current UTSA head coach Brooks Thompson and Toronto Raptors forward Joey Graham, as well as Big 12 Player of the Year John Lucas. The philosophy was generally the same for all the transfers under former coach Eddie Sutton: The staff must do its homework to make sure the player is good enough and not a huge headache. A player's success is as much about talent as it is about fitting with a program and a coach.
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