http://www.newsok.com/article/2831457baseball player Kody Kaiser is leaving the program led by his uncle, Sooners head coach Sunny Golloway.
A two-year starter who would be a junior, Kaiser said he sought a release from OU to transfer, but was blocked by Golloway. OU has granted a release, but denied his request to apply the one-year transfer exception, which would have allowed him to be immediately eligible at another NCAA Division I school.
The outfielder, who was drafted in the 26th round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in June, said he would now either sign professionally or play next spring at Oklahoma City University.
Kaiser spoke of the troubles of playing for his uncle amid grumblings of nepotism among teammates.
“It’s very difficult to make friends and teammates when they think that’s going on,” Kaiser said.
Claiming strained family relations, Kaiser that Golloway was more interested in his own image than his players, even a nephew.
“(Golloway’s) main reasoning for not wanting to give me my release has nothing to do with the idea it isn’t best for me,’’ Kaiser said. “It has nothing to do with my feelings or my desire to get a fresh start.
“He said to me, ‘If you leave the University of Oklahoma, how am I going to recruit to the University of Oklahoma when my own nephew doesn’t want to be here?’”
A source close to the program said that when the school was conducting its coaching search last summer, Kris Kaiser, Kody’s father, called to say that his son would leave OU if Golloway wasn’t hired.
Golloway, who recruited Kody to OU, declined to discuss details of the issue, yet wished Kody well.
“It’s unfortunate that Kody Kaiser is seeking a release from the University of Oklahoma,” Golloway said. “We give Kody the opportunity to transfer through a release and we wish him the very best.
“We hope Kody finds it in his heart to return to the University of Oklahoma. As everyone knows, Kody is my nephew. I will always love Kody.”
In 2005, Kody was named Second Team Freshman All-American by Baseball America. He was the only Sooner to start all 61 games and led the team in multiple-hit games, total bases, triples and stolen bases while hitting .305.
He hit .306 this past season as OU’s regular left fielder.
The former Edmond Santa Fe had hoped to leave the Sooners for another major college program, perhaps Arkansas. He said he told Golloway he would leave peacefully if given a release.
“I told him, ‘We’ll be out of state, out of sight,’” the player said.
When a final appeal was denied Tuesday, Kody and his father reacted by initiating contact with The Oklahoman to voice their displeasure through an advisor, Jay Franklin.
“They would have been better off to let Kody go,” Kris Kaiser said. “Kody is blood. If you’re going to do blood that way, we’ll do it back.”
The Tuesday appeal was made to an independent body comprised of OU faculty and administrators from outside the athletic department.
OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said Tuesday night he would reserve comment on the specific situation because he had not been informed of the outcome of the appeal.
Applying the one-year transfer exception has long been accepted practice in Division I college baseball. But Castiglione said OU has adopted a more restrictive policy on transfers because of the NCAA's Academic Progress Report (APR), which penalizes schools when too many athletes transfer.
“The institutional position on this issue is totally unrelated to any particular student-athlete or any particular sport,” Castiglione said. “We aren't going to just willingly provide the one-year transfer exception to any student-athlete. There must be extenuating circumstances.”
Kody Kaiser is free to transfer to another Division I school, but would have to sit out a year before being eligible. If he were to transfer to a lower division, he would be immediately eligible.
