As Luke Winn and others have pointed out, sometimes it seems like players are changing schools at a ridiculous rate. We have seen players like Wesley Johnson and Danny Granger transfer and then become first round picks in the NBA Draft, but neither achieved the rare trifecta.

Luke Cothron committed to three schools (Auburn, UMass, and New Orleans) without playing a game at any of the three. But three schools attendance streaks sometimes make sense. Many players start at a D1 school, end up spending a year at a junior college, and then rejoin a D1 school to end their career. That’s a lot of change, but since the JC school in the middle was never intended to be the final destination, you cannot blame players who take this three school track. Jacksonville St. is a D1 school, but Jay-R Stowbridge essentially gave them the one-year JC treatment: (Note that MPG is minutes per game.)

The more fascinating players are the ones that attend three D1 schools with the intention of playing their whole career at each one. Those players are serious nomads. Today, I look at players that played at three D1 schools, earned playing time at all three, and were active in 2010 or 2011. Did things work out at the third school? Or were these players what used-car buyers refer to as “lemons”?

Alex Legion is the most famous example. He was a mid-year transfer from Kentucky to Illinois and a mid-year transfer from Illinois to Florida International, meaning he somehow turned his four years of college eligibility into two years of playing time. The good news for Legion was that he finally earned major playing time at Florida International.  He also found a level of competition where he could be an efficient scorer. The bad news is that he ended up playing for a losing team.

Mike Gerrity is another famous example. The good news is that his ORtg consistently got better over time. The bad news is that he ended his career playing for a USC team that struggled to win games.

The only player to try three schools and end up on a real winner was Kenneth Cooper. He used the graduate school transfer rule to end up at UAB, and played for a team that lost in the Elite Eight of the NIT. Sadly for Cooper, his minutes and efficiency stats fell after he joined UAB.

John Fields also took advantage of the graduate school transfer rule. And given how disastrous his year at NC Wilmington was, both in terms of individual and team performance, it is hard to blame him for finding a third home. Unfortunately his minutes took a serious hit at Tennessee.

Marques Johnson went the other way, leaving Tennessee for a team in North Carolina. But after he continued to post ORtgs in the 70s, he found a third home. Finally as a senior at Georgia St. he put together a more solid season.

Kevin Galloway never became an efficient player, but he did earn more playing time at Texas Southern.

And I’m not even going to bother to show the stats for Morakinyo Williams who left Kentucky for Duquense and the Citadel since he’s never played meaningful minutes anywhere. But I will show the stats for Travis Busch. Sometimes the thrill of returning home sounds wonderful until you realize you are never going to get off the bench. Sadly for Busch, his nice efficiency stats in garbage time in Minnesota did not translate to Colorado St.

And finally I end with the story of a player who never even played in a BCS conference. Lamar Roberson transferred from Houston to UNLV and then to Louisiana-Lafayette. What could cause a player to transfer that many times among non-BCS caliber schools? The answer is a bizarre one. Roberson was close to Emmanuel Adeife and followed Adefie from Houston to UNLV. But when Adeife got to UNLV he immediately became angry about his playing time. And after just one game Adeife had a falling out with Lon Kruger and made plans to transfer to Louisiana-Lafayette. Roberson played out the year for UNLV, but eventually decided that sticking with his friend was important to him, and he joined his friend in transferring to the Ragin Cajuns.

Yes, we often think college players are motivated by fame, playing time, and winning. But sometimes, relationships are just as important when describing a three-school career arc.