Is Kazemi Transfer Part of a Bigger Issue?

We missed this last week,, but Yahoo's Jeff Eisenberg sat down and banged out an interesting read about this whole Kazemi transfer situation. We know now where he will wind up (Oregon), but Eisenberg points out that his was the sixth transfer by a player away from the Rice program in a single off-season.

A short and wirthwhile read, but let me sum up:

Why would six players leave a program that appeared to be on the rise after last season's postseason appearance in the CIT Tournament? At this point, the answer to that question remains murky.

...

The most plausible theory for the tumult at Rice is Braun's decision not to renew the contract of assistant coach Marco Morcos may have played a role.

Morcos played a key role in the recruitment of the players from last year's freshman class that have left, including forward Jarelle Reischel (Rhode Island), point guard Dylan Ennis (Villanova) and forward Ahmad Ibrahim (turned pro). He also helped land 7-foot-2 center Omar Oraby, a fellow Egyptian who announced he will transfer to USC last week.

I'm a little hard pressed to believe that so many players would depart so readily after losing an assistant coach, but I suppose far, far stranger things have happened.