After putting together one of the greatest teams in NCAA history last fall, New Mexico coach Joe Franklin nearly did it again in 2016.

Liberty sophomore Ednah Kurgat committed to transfer and join the Lobos. Kurgat was 12th at NCAA XC last fall and fourth in the 5K at outdoor nationals, and she left Liberty after assistant coach David Cheromei left. Along with Alice Wright, Rhona Auckland, and Calli Thackery, Kurgat would have given them four of the top 10 returners in the country. Auckland is now out for the season with an injury, but a top three of Wright-Kurgat-Thackery would have made New Mexico at least co-favorites for a national title.

But before Kurgat could run this fall, Liberty had to release her. And they chose not to. The NCAA rules on transferring are lengthy, and some conferences have their own restrictions. But basically, if athletes in sports other than baseball, basketball, football, or men's hockey transfer, they can be eligible to compete right away at the new school if their old school releases them.

Franklin knows that leaving the release up to the original school is a bad rule, saying, "If I am able to leave as a coach, the student should be allowed to leave as well. ... Institutions would never prevent the second-year English major from transferring."

But Franklin hasn't always lived up to that conviction and admits it. We asked Franklin about his personal policy on releasing athletes, and he said that when he was the coach at Butler, he granted a release to every single athlete who asked for one. At New Mexico, though, he said in the case of sprinter BeeJay Lee, "We did not release for indoor track but released for outdoor track when he transferred to USC from UNM. I regret not releasing him for indoor track."

Liberty is under no obligation to explain itself. By blocking Kurgat from competing in 2016-17, it did something that was entirely within the rules.

However, Bert Locklin, Liberty's compliance director, responded to our request for comment.

"The Transfer Committee within Liberty's athletics department considers such requests and any decision to reject the request may be appealed to a faculty committee outside of athletics," Locklin said. "The reason Ednah Kurgat is ineligible to compete for the University of New Mexico during the 2016-2017 Cross Country/Track and Field seasons is that Liberty University's Transfer Committee did not support her request for relief based on a number of factors that the committee determined warranted the denial. Ednah Kurgat appealed that decision and the faculty committee decided to uphold the Transfer Committee's denial. All available appeals have been exhausted."

In short: There's a process here; we're within our rights to control it; see you in September 2017. Kurgat will then have three cross country seasons and two track seasons remaining.

​​Gordon Mack contributed to this report.