Beads of sweat collect on junior football player Araf Evans Jr.’s forehead as the evening dusk sets over his silhouette on the field. He prepares to take on the demanding gameday football routine again, but this time something’s different.
The colors of his uniform are a bright blue and true green, not the deep purple and yellow he had grown accustomed to. The threaded words across his chest read “Mustangs” in all caps, not “Thunderbirds” like it used to. The only thing that stayed consistent was the number on his back, the lucky number 7.
Evans, who transferred from Bellevue West in early 2024, joined MN’s school community for a reason unique from the common student. “I followed Burrell over here… My dad and him are actually friends so I was able to talk to him about MN beforehand… I really like how he coaches and we had been talking for a while so I decided to make that change,” Evans said.
Head football coach Allen Burrell, who Evans was in contact with prior to his transfer, is also a recent newcomer. Starting at MN second semester of the 2023-2024 school year, Burrell took on the head football coach position, bringing along a new philosophy.
“I’ve always been more of an outside-the-box kind of guy… people have these expectations. You [spectators, fans] want coaches to produce, but you can’t produce without certain resources, right? That’s the way I see it.” Burrell said. “You can’t be elite without the right resources. You have to evolve or you evaporate.”
This assertive mindset, integrated with meaningful connections like the one Evans holds with Burell, is often the determining factor for student-athletes to make the switch for their athletic careers.
Additionally, with a growing emphasis on college recruiting, transfer culture is correspondingly more prevalent than ever.
Activities Director Keith Maly, who has served in the school system for over 15 years, reflects on the changes he has witnessed in the high school sports scene over time.
“I started in Plattsmouth High School as an AD [Activities Director], and there, there weren’t a whole lot of kids that were being grabbed by other coaches to come to that school. It was really your neighborhood kids that attended the high school,” Maly said. “I think as you come back into the [Omaha] metro there’s a growing amount of competition and pressure between kids and coaches.”
Although Nebraska doesn’t disclose specific data about transfer rates, there is a lot of available information for the curious individual on the Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) website.
The NSAA, the governing body of Nebraska high school activities, is responsible for creating and enforcing rules regarding transfer eligibility.
In the NSAA’s Constitution & Bylaw’s section 2.7.8, the bylaw states that unless a student is put on the “May 1” list, a kind of “priority list”, then the student is “ineligible” for varsity-level athletics. They must sit out for 90 school days before they can play in a varsity game, match, or race.
In other words, this student could try out and practice with the varsity squad, but they aren’t allowed to play with the team in an NSAA-sanctioned competition until they’ve completed the 90 school days.
But there is a way around this. If students are registered on this May 1 list before May 1, transfer students are “immediately eligible in the fall at the Nebraska school to which they transfer.”
Even with this list, transferring is still not a simple process. Maly and the rest of the administration always ensure that any incoming transfer is a good fit for the school.
“We [administration] are looking for kids that first, are great students in the classroom, and second, are great people with our teachers, faculty, [and] administration… not just because they’re good on the soccer field or the baseball field,” Maly said.
Maly additionally emphasizes that even if a student transfers, a spot on a MN athletic varsity team is never ensured.
“When you transfer here, there’s no guarantee you’re going to play… the one thing we will guarantee is that they [students] can not transfer and just think they have a spot because they transferred…” Maly said. “We want to instill in these kids that it’s going to take hard work and dedication to just maybe get a spot… you have to work for it, just like everything in life. Nothing is given.”
Many, if not all, coaches echo this principle, which Maly and the rest of the administration work hard to underline for every athletic program.
“In the end of the day, everyone has to work the same… and when you prepare yourself, there shouldn’t be any pressure,” head football coach Allen Burell said.
Coaches and administrators alike agree this is a fair way to maintain equality across the board; this way, both traditional MN students and transfer-ins hold an equal opportunity to make a mark on their respective athletic programs.
Ultimately, the high school transfer process should be up to the student, or in this case, the student-athlete. As long as the correct rules are being followed and guidelines are being respected, there should be no reason why student-athletes shouldn’t be able to attend the schools of their choice.
Just like so many around students today are fixated on their “dream schools”, working diligently toward their visions of perfect lives and careers, these student-athletes are doing the same by taking their first steps toward college recruitment.