NCAA teams may need to brace for more transfers
You think the transfer portal in NCAA sports is active now? It’s about to become more active.
The NCAA Division I Council was scheduled to meet Tuesday and Wednesday. One of the likely topics: An unlimited number of transfers for athletes, according to a report first published in The Athletic.
Athletes currently can transfer once and be immediately eligible at another school. They also could be eligible right away if they were given a “hardship” transfer or transferred as a graduate student.
But the new proposal would allow for multiple transfers without penalty. It wouldn’t allow athletes to transfer within a season and be eligible at a different school.
Maybe, that will come later.
Based on how college sports are progressing, I would expect the NCAA to approve unlimited transfers. It doesn’t have a choice.
You know how this would play out in court. In fact, a court ruling is the catalyst for this.
Last year, a West Virginia judge ruled against the NCAA enforcing its bylaw that prevented athletes from more than one transfer without a loss of eligibility. In January, the U.S. Department of Justice joined the lawsuit, which argues that the limitations on transfers violate antitrust law.
You already might have noticed the NCAA doesn’t win antitrust cases. And it won’t win them in the future.
Antitrust law will trump what’sgood-for-the-game arguments every time. Coaches, schools and fans will have to accept the rulings and adapt to the impact those decisions will have on what were formerly known as college sports.
More transfers mean more NIL money. You can’t best attract the top transfers with your last won-lost record, facilities, or the possibility of more playing
time. You do so with NIL deals.
So, get ready to pony up, boosters. More transfers mean something else, too. Why would anyone invest heavily in high school recruits when more experienced, proven players are available in the transfer portal?
Don’t get the wrong idea.
Tennessee still wouldn’t pass on an opportunity to sign a five-star quarterback like Nico Iamaleava, who will start this season as a redshirt freshman. But if transfers become more abundant under this new proposal, why would any championship-seeking program use its yearly scholarship allotments solely on
high school recruits?
Ole Miss football coach Lane Kiffin already has transformed his program while proudly touting himself as the “Transfer King.” The Rebels could contend for a national championship this season because of how effectively Kiffin has worked the portal.
Deion Sanders is trying to do the same thing with Colorado football. And all coaches are relying on transfers to some degree.
They will be counting on them more if players are allowed to transfer as many times as they want.
They also will be counting on high
school recruits less.
Since transfers and NIL deals are connected at the hip, you might wonder how long the system is sustainable. You also might wonder when fatigue will set in with NIL investors.
That’s one reason why there has been so much speculation about overhauling the system − about making athletes employees and having a collective bargaining agreement.
But stability is nowhere in sight right now.
And if the NCAA further liberalizes the transfer rule, college sports are about to become less stable.