The NCAA could be one significant step closer to allowing student-athletes to get a free one-time transfer without losing a year of eligibility.
According to Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball, the NCAA’s Division 1 Council is expected to discuss the one-time transfer waiver at an upcoming meeting scheduled for April 24. A vote could then be taken next month, with Rogers reporting an expected date of May 20. According to Rogers, the measure is expected to have the support it needs to pass.
SOURCES: The @NCAA Division I Council will discuss the implementation of a one-time transfer waiver on April 24. The Council will not vote on it that day, but a vote IS expected to take place on May 20. Told the measure is expected to pass and would immediately apply. Stay tuned.
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) April 10, 2020
The current rules in place require student-athletes to sit out a full season of their sport before being ruled eligible to play again. Waivers can be requested for immediate eligibility, and the NCAA has seemingly been more relaxed on the process recently. Graduate transfers have immediate eligibility.
The calls for an updated transfer policy have grown in recent years. The NCAA has also had a bit of a mystifying decision-making process when it comes to approving waivers for immediate eligibility. Support for a free one-time transfer certainly has momentum with a vote appearing to come to fruition.
In February, the NCAA announced a Division 1 Transfer Working Group was established to consider granting all student-athletes a free one-time transfer without penalty. The Big Ten officially proposed the transfer penalty rule be scrapped, and the ACC has endorsed the proposal.
When the one-time transfer rule goes into effect is still to be confirmed, although it would be likely the revised process would not be in place until the 2021-2022 academic calendar. It was previously reported, however, the revised transfer rule could still be put in place in time for the 2020-21 academic year, although the world has changed quite a bit since that previous report.
