Will the Refined NCAA Transfer Portal Continue to Change the Association?

This is a simple but complicated answer that now benefits the player who ends up transferring to a new school. The NCAA Transfer Portal gets a ton of attention now more than ever with some new rules implemented by the D1 Council, who voted in favor of a one-time transfer exception back on April 15th, 2021. This new ruling will begin at the start of the 2021-22 academic school year. This will change the way the transfer world is handled, and it is a step in the right direction for the NCAA.

NCAA Transfer Portal: The Old Transfer Rule

The NCAA’s main focus for student-athletes is certainly their education. From 2018 and earlier, the NCAA’s ruling was you have to sit out one season after you transfer to your new school. One exception to this ruling is a graduate student. If a player graduates and still has college eligibility, you can transfer from your school without penalty. The NCAA calls it an “academic year in residence,” meaning a player will be able to get comfortable with his/her new school and focus on academics for one season. A player will still be able to do activities with the team, such as practice, workouts, team meetings, etc. They are just not eligible to play in games during that one year. How has this changed since then?

NCAA Makes Changes To Transfer Rule in 2019

The NCAA Transfer Portal got more interesting for the 2019-20 season. The basic rules were still set in stone, if an athlete transfers to a different school they have to sit out a season. The new add-ons to the transfer rule benefited some undergraduate athletes. Players can be considered eligible to play right away if:

• The athlete’s previous college provided an athletic scholarship for their sport, but the athlete has not received the athletic scholarship.
• Their previous college did not give an athletic scholarship, and that school did not recruit the athlete.

These new rules benefited walk-ons for the most part. In 2019, players could request a waiver to be immediately eligible for the upcoming season. These rule changes would continue to change the NCAA to some degree. Giving more flexibility to players that want to transfer because of self-interest. It was a step in the right direction, which is why the new way of transferring will stay.

NCAA Board of Directors Vote on New Transfer Rule in 2021

The Division 1 Board of Directors ruled on allowing players who have not yet transferred the ability to do so without sitting out a season. This is a one-time transfer deal that goes into effect at the beginning of the 2021-22 academic school year. There have been mixed feelings about this rule from both fans and coaches. This will now change many aspects inside of the NCAA.

The New NCAA Transfer Portal Rule Will Continually Change the NCAA.

The number of players that have hit the NCAA Transfer Portal in college basketball this off-season is crazy. Over 1,400 kids have notified their school that they intend to transfer for next season, all because of the one-time transfer rule. This changes the way some coaches will recruit to a certain degree. You have to be in a “win now” kind of mindset. Do you go out and recruit a bunch of high-school kids? Or do you hit the Portal and aim for experience on the floor? Making this type of ruling will definitely change what the NCAA does in the future with rules. This can be seen as both good and bad.

The new version of the NCAA Transfer Portal will continuously change the NCAA. It is just a matter of what the NCAA does with changes like this.

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