12 in 5 years?
Of all the accusations hurled at Norm, this one is the most ridiculous. Three points.
1. I count D Gray, Cedric J, Ricky Torres, Avery Patterson, Q Calhoun, Mike Cavataio, Tyshwan E, Larry Wright, Tyler Jones, Phil Wait. I assume I'm missing a couple. (But Omari doesn't count, since he transferred post Norm; Maybank graduated; Epperson and Kitchen didn't qualify; and Tyler Jones wasn't Norm's player.) But assume 12. Other than Cedric - and when he was here pretty much no one thought he was anything - none of these players have gone on to anything other than marginal basketball success and almost none of them have done so at a Division 1 school. The fact is that these were kids who should not have been playing D1 in the first place, who were recruited for the most part from necessity, and who transferred to schools more commensurate with their abilities. Even Larry Wright, arguably the best of the bunch, struggled at what could charitably be called a mid major.
2. Except in a few cases, there's no proof that Norm forced players out. At best that statement is surmise and at worst it's a lie. Patterson was insubordinate; Calhoun refused summer work outs; they were likely forced out. The more likely scenario for the rest is that Norm told them they were bring recruited over or that they simply wouldn't play - or that the players themselves realized they were overmatched. Considering that he didn't force the appalling Tomas Jasilionustein out, it's hard for me to believe that he forced the rest out.
3. There were about 300 D1 transfers this year, meaning an average of about one per school. If Norm had 10 or 12 kids transfer in 5 years that's a little higher than average but certainly not outlandishly so, especially for a school in the situation SJ was in 2004.
Don't get me wrong. Transfers and the lack of continuity they engender were one of the many things that doomed Norm. Seniors > freshman all day long. But the idea that these particular tranfers say anything about Norm's character is just wrong headed.