Tubby Smith thinks allowing transfers teaches athletes to quit.

— -- Memphis coach Tubby Smith expressed his displeasure Sunday with the high number of players transferring in college basketball, telling reporters the practice teaches athletes "to quit."

Memphis was hit particularly hard by transfers after last season, when six players transferred from Smith's team. On Sunday, he was asked whether he thought the bulk of his team would return in 2017-18.

That prompted a rant from Smith on the "new NCAA regulations" that allow players to "transfer whenever they want."

"I've been in this business a long time, never seen anything like it," Smith said. "We had over 800 Division I players transfer last year. We're teaching them how to quit. That's what we're doing. Things not going well, let's quit."

Smith has been the head coach at six different NCAA schools since 1991. But he said players who transfer need someone "to tell them you made a commitment. Stick to it." He acknowledged that most players "have a lot of people in their ear."

Smith told reporters Sunday that he wanted to transfer from High Point during his freshman season in 1969. But in his case, his father was there to tell him to "stick to it."

He said his father asked if somebody did something to him, and when he said "no," his father replied with several questions: "'You still getting your scholarship, aren't you? They're still feeding you? They still housing you? You still getting an education?'"

When Smith replied, "yes, sir," his father said: "'Well, you can't come home. Your bed's been taken. ... But you can join the Army.'"

Smith said Sunday that was the "best thing he ever said to me."