Iowa and Iowa State situations are among many examples of the craziness of major-conference basketball

Wes Johnson played his one year at Syracuse, and will enter the NBA draft.

So here's the Johnson college career: Two years at Iowa State, dissatisfaction with how he saw his career going, a transfer to Syracuse, and an All-America season leading him to be a possible Top Five pick in the NBA draft.

He made the right choice two years ago, no matter how it burns Iowa State people to hear it. He also typifies how college basketball has changed at the major-conference level.

Every player, it seems, is constantly judging if they're in the best possible situation for themselves. If they aren't getting enough playing time, they bolt. If they are starting but don't feel they're being showcased, they bolt. If they are the star of their teams, but don't think they're in a situation that can enhance their NBA status as much as another situation might, they bolt. If they aren't crazy about their coach, they bolt.

And, of course, many play for coaches who, if offered a more-lucrative opportunity . . . would bolt.

"I plan to come back next year," Aaron Fuller said a half-hour after his Iowa team's season ended with a first-round Big Ten tourney loss to Michigan. He said that surely feeling confident Todd Lickliter would be fired as Iowa's coach.

"If Coach is here, great, if he's not, it's unfortunate," Fuller said. "I hope the best for him. Our program is not where it needs to be at, and it's not my choice whether he stays or goes."

But last week Fuller asked to be freed from the Hawkeyes, and was given his wish.

"Aaron expressed his desire to move closer to home and his family," new Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said in a press release.

That "move closer to home" card has been played a few times, hasn't it? More times than not, that "move closer to home" line is code for "I'm not getting enough playing time," or "I don't like my coach here," or "I want to go play for a winner."

Justin Hamilton, who started 31 games at center for Iowa State in the 2009-2010 season, played that "closer to home" card when he announced he was leaving ISU. Monday, he chose his new school. It was Louisiana State.

Which was interesting, since Hamilton's home is Alpine, Utah.

Another program in the hunt for Hamilton's services, which were good for 6.4 points and 5.4 rebounds a game last season? Virginia.

Maybe kids just aren't getting taught geography these days.

You've got to wonder what kind of relationship Greg McDermott has had with his ISU players when a sophomore getting 31 starts at a Big 12 program (who would be riding the bench at Kansas and Kansas State) takes off.

You also have to wonder what people were telling Hamilton. Wes Johnson left here and became a superstar, and you can do the same thing? Or maybe he looked at what the Cyclones have coming back next year with Craig Brackins and Marquis Gilstrap gone, and didn't want to be anchored to a losing team.

Maybe he's simply a college sophomore. A lot of them don't really have a clear handle on life.

Iowa changes coaches, and two of the four committed recruits ask to be released from their commitments. Both Cody Larson and Ben Brust say they want to be re-recruited by Iowa, and explore all their other options in the meantime.

I don't blame them a bit. Much as some pretend, players commit to coaches, not universities. The coach you sign with showers you with love. Are you then going to sign on with his successor, who might feel stuck with you (for the short-term) instead of smitten with you like the previous guy?

Major-college teams having a bunch of guys who hang together is rarer than it cnce was. When it happens, you've got something. Duke, the national champion, was keyed by senior Jon Scheyer and juniors Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler.

Northern Iowa was a confident team in the season that just ended. It certainly wasn't in awe of its three NCAA tourney opponents this year, UNLV, Kansas and Michigan State. The Panthers had a group of players who had been together for years, who had grown to trust each other and their coach, Ben Jacobson, and whose talents and traits fit Jacobson's philosophies.

The keys to UNI's success, as much as anything, were experience and togetherness. Ditto Butler -- though the Bulldogs relied on some terrific sophomores -- and Cornell.

Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall didn't spurn overtures from Iowa and other schools because he felt they weren't good enough for him. He's got a team coming back that should win a lot of games, a team losing just one senior. The Shockers won 25 games this season and will probably win more than that next season. Marshall will become a white-hot property if his experienced squad lives up to its potential.

Two more teams that will be loaded next year: Michigan State and Purdue. They shouldn't be losing anyone to early NBA exits this spring and they haven't been bitten by transfers. The teams that routinely compete for league-titles and deep NCAA tourney runs tend to keep players content. They are showcased.

Until Iowa and Iowa State can get that sort of stability that only winning can bring, they'll continue to be subway stops, places where some players stay on and ride all the way to the end while many others hop off and catch a train headed somewhere else.

Once a coach recruits enough of his own guys, people who experience success and see that school as a place to find fame and satisfaction, then you can truly challenge Michigan State and Purdue and Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Oh, and those recruits better be really talented, too.

Meanwhile, you may have missed this news from Penn State's men's basketball program last month:

Sophomore sophomore Chris Babb and freshman Bill Edwards. Both players wanted to be closer to home, according to a press release from Penn State's athletic department.

Babb started 23 games as a soph averaged 9.3 points.

From the Harrisburg Patriot-News:

Mike Babb (the player's father) ... wished not to speak for his son about his reasons for the transfer. But it's easy to speculate the Nittany Lions' 11-20 season that included a 3-16 record against Big Ten competition certainly didn't help. Texts and calls to Chris Babb's phone went unanswered. His father said he didn't want to talk about his transfer yet.

"Overall, Penn State's a great place," Mike Babb said. "We don't have anything bad to say about it. But it is what it is. If Chris is going to do this, he has to do it at this point. He'll have two years left.

"It's nothing personal. But you don't want to wait until it's too late."