As Eric Paschall Opens Door to Transferring, Fordham Can Only Hope He Stays

Fordham freshman Eric Paschall could be the next one out the door.

Less than a week after the school fired head coach Tom Pecora, the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year indicated via Twitter Monday that he'd at least consider transferring to another school.

"

I have been granted Permission to Contact, which means my recruitment is now open.

— Eric Paschall (@Epaschall4) March 23, 2015"

In a follow-up tweet, however, Paschall made it clear he could still return and that no decision has been made yet.

"

Fordham is still an option for a school

— Eric Paschall (@Epaschall4) March 23, 2015"

According to The Journal News, Juan Paschall, Eric's father, gave Fordham a list of more than 12 schools he and his son could contact. Fordham agreed to their request so long as Paschall only contacts the schools on that list.

A lot of programs would clearly love to have Paschall, who averaged 15.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game as a freshman. On Tuesday, SportsNet New York's Adam Zagoria reported that Paschall was looking at Villanova and Providence. You can expect more schools to enter the mix.

"There are two or three that he's really interested in—schools he knows," Juan Paschall said, according to The Journal News' Josh Thomson. "I know some of those coaches. I know what they're about. Now it's just a matter of us visiting those schools."

Juan Paschall told Zagoria that this is all about "find[ing] out what options we have."

“Obviously, we’re waiting to see who they’re going to hire and we’re going to sit down with them and discuss what their future plans are as far as Fordham basketball is concerned, and at that time we’re going to make a decision," he said.

It was no secret that Paschall chose Fordham over other schools in large part because of Pecora and his staff. Juan Paschall made that clear in an interview with the New York Post's Zach Braziller.

“I know they are going to take care of my son,” he said when Eric signed with Fordham. “I can’t say that about anybody else.”

Now, he may have to. Fordham chose to let Pecora go following a 10-21 season. In five years at Rose Hill, Pecora had a 44-106 record. Recruiting Paschall was one of the biggest accomplishments of his tenure.

Right now, the Rams have a good nucleus in place heading into the 2015-16 season and beyond. Paschall, Christian Sengfelder and Jon Severe form a solid core Fordham can build around.

If he leaves, everything changes. Without Paschall, Fordham would appear to be destined to finish well below .500 yet again. They'd lose Paschall's scoring and star power. It would be a devastating blow for a program that hasn't enjoyed much luck over the past two decades.

Now, as the search for a new coach plays out, the real drama surrounds whether or not Paschall will return.

Follow Charles Costello on Twitter: @CFCostello. A full archive of his articles can be found here.