NCAA Division I Council Sends Transfer Portal Window to NCAA for Final Approval

The NCAA is looking to make drastic changes to the transfer portal for division I athletics.

Instead of allowing players to join the transfer portal at anytime, the organization is looking to limit that to two periods of the year with one in the winter and one in the spring. The rule changes will also allow players to transfer more than once and receive immediate eligibility.

The proposals were approved created by the transformation committee and were approved by the division I council. They are now being sent to the division I board for approval, which is expected to happen. That meeting won’t take place until next month though.

The windows would be in effect immediately for this upcoming school year and would be tied to each specific sport. In winter and spring sports players will have to provided written notice to a school for the intention to transfer within 60 days after their championship.

For fall sports, which includes football, their will be two windows. The first will be the 60 days following the championship selection day and the second will take place from May 1-15.

The new portal rules will also allow players to transfer more than once and still be eligible to play immediately. Previously the rule only allowed first time transfers to be eligible to play immediately, though almost all non-first time transfers were granted a waiver when applied.

The rules are intended to help reign in what has been seen as an uncontrollable era in college athletics where players are making between hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions through NIL deals and transferring at will, often times in search of the best NIL deal.