We’re one step closer to the long-awaited adoption of new transfer rules for the Division I level for all NCAA sports. Today, the organization announced the latest in the ongoing effort to open up one-time transfer waivers for every player.
To this point, many sports have required athletes to sit out a year before being eligible to play, after transferring from one school to another. That has been the case for the main revenue sports like football and basketball, though hardship waivers have become more frequent in recent years.
Still, there has been controversy over why some waivers are approved and others declined. Throw in the ethical issues with preventing a player from playing at a new school despite being unpaid while making money for their schools, even if they have a great reason for transferring, and the momentum has been solidly on the side of a change like this.
On Wednesday, Nicole Auerbach reported that the new legislation had been approved by the NCAA Division I Council, and was expected to pass during today’s meeting. Now, the NCAA has announced just that.
DI Council adopts new transfer legislation: https://t.co/NRnieKGrsD pic.twitter.com/U7Ad2fTlxF
— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) April 15, 2021
This does not mean the rule is official just yet, though it is widely expected to be adopted. The Division I Board of Directors will now decide whether to adopt the Council’s proposed legislation on April 28.
The new rule is set to take effect for the 2021-22 academic year, if passed.
“The Council expanded the one-time transfer exception to all sports, which means student-athletes who play baseball, football, men’s and women’s basketball, and men’s ice hockey have the same chance as all other student-athletes to transfer and play right away. If ratified by the board, the change is effective for student-athletes who have not transferred before and want to compete at a new school as early as this fall.”
The fact that this is set to coincide the blanket extra year for athletes following the COVID-19 pandemic has led to pretty crazy rash in players across major sports entering the transfer portal. It will have some repercussions in that way, but most agree that giving athletes more freedom is absolutely the right thing to do.
[NCAA]
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