I get that all these guys need to look out for themselves, but I think they’re missing something. Prominent college players often get financial benefits from their association with their school. And if you value non-financial benefits, there’s lifetime adulation from fans of your school. These guys who spend 3-4 years at one school and then bolt for a payday for their last year of eligibility give all that away. The school they left doesn’t think of them as one of theirs (unless the kid won a national championship there) and the new school doesn’t have any strong feeling for them (again, unless they won a national championship).
Most here probably know little to nothing about European soccer, but this is like what happened to Robin van Persie. He was at Arsenal for nearly a decade. Hurt a lot early in his career and then was the best striker in the Premier League for a couple of years. His teams were very good but no titles. Then he forced his way out at the end of his career and spent two years at Manchester United, where he helped them win a title in year one and was terrible in year two. Once he retired, he, unlike a lot of great footballers, had no grounds to go back to as a club legend and he couldn’t understand why. Arsenal fans viewed him as a traitor and Man U fans viewed him as a one-year rental.