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On Thursday, it was reported that the NCAA was planning on passing the new one-time transfer rule to be immediately implemented with the vote scheduled to take place on May 20th.
Unfortunately, it would seem that the NCAA could decide to delay that vote until January 2021 after discussions on Friday.
“The Council discussed recommendations from the Transfer Waiver Working Group, which has recommended that waiver guidelines be changed to allow first-time four-year transfers in all sports the ability to compete immediately. While the group didn’t take a vote on the recommendations, it provided valuable feedback with regard to timing and uncertainty related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It also recommended the Division I Board of Directors lift the moratorium it placed on transfer legislation last fall in order for the Council to vote on the concept in January 2021.”
This is not the news Kentucky fans wanted to hear, as this means the Cats’ search for another big man for the 2020-21 season is going to be very difficult.
Not only does this impact the basketball side, but this also means that new Kentucky QB Joey Gatewood would not be eligible to play in 2020, meaning he will be a junior before he can take the field for the Cats.
The UK women’s basketball team would also be significantly affected, as they just landed Robyn Benton from Auburn and Jazmine Massengill from Tennessee last week. Both plays would make a major impact for the 2020-21 Wildcats if eligible. But if the rules doesn’t pass, we won’t see them in action until 2021-22.
However, this is obviously a very fluid situation, and Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported that the last sentence of that release does not rule out a vote on the one-time transfer rule at the next Division 1 Council meeting next month.
A source tells me, despite the last sentence, this does NOT rule out a vote on the immediate eligibility transfer concept at the next Division I Council meeting next month. This is definitely a fluid situation. https://t.co/vHMJ2HWs7B
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) April 24, 2020
Jeff Goodman also joined in as he reported that the vote has not been postponed until January and is still slated for May 20th, according to MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher.
The vote for the one-time transfer waiver has NOT been postponed until January. It is STILL slated for May 20, per MAC commissioner Jon Steinbracher. "No decision has been made either way,” he told me. But still a chance it can go into effect for the season.
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) April 25, 2020
It seems like Steinbrecher still expects to vote to happen next month when the council meets.
Hopefully, the NCAA will ultimately decide to vote on this rule next month and will pass it so that players can transfer once and not have to sit out a season before they can play again. But seeing today’s developments, Kentucky fans should probably expect the new rule to now pass and eventually go into effect for 2021-22.