Major changes coming to NCAA transfer rule?

Major changes could be on the way in collegiate athletics, and people have varying views on the topic.

The proposal in question would allow players a likely “one time freebie” meaning a college football or basketball player would have the ability to transfer one time without sitting out. Any additional transfers (excluding a graduate transfer) would have to sit out a year.

From most reports, the NCAA is looking at making an academic requirement—likely a GPA requirement probably of 2.7 or 2.8 according to Jon Rothstein— in addition to reports that it would take effect beginning Aug. 1.

Andrew Slater at 247 Sports has been all over this story for a long time, reporting on it back in September. You can read his report here.

There have been strong opinions on both sides, but for a lot of people like myself, there is good and bad to the rule.

The good is obviously that it adds a level of fairness to the situation for players. A lot of people see a discrepancy between allowing coaches to up and leave their programs at any point without facing any kind of restriction or penalty while players have to jump through hoops including sitting out a year and many times facing restrictions on where they can transfer. This rule would help level the field a little in that regard.

On the other hand, mid-major programs could take a hit with this and college athletics could see its own form of free agency take shape. Additionally, this probably does nothing to help the corruption issues in college basketball, instead likely making them worse as recruiting of players could take on a new form.

The key to the whole thing would be the enforcement of rules by the NCAA, which doesn’t exactly sound too promising. While I like the idea of allowing players more freedom, I’m not sure how the NCAA polices it.

Regardless, it sounds like the rule is on the horizon, so people better get ready for it.