A recommendation to change transfer rules for Division I college athletes that included unlimited opportunities to switch schools with immediate eligibility was bounced back to a committee for more research by the NCAA’s D-I Board of Directors on Wednesday.
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The board did adopt Transformation Committee recommendations that would allow schools to provide more financial benefits to athletes.
“Schools can now pay for more to support a student’s academic pursuits, purchase insurance such as critical injury or illness and loss-of-value, and fund participation in elite-level training, tryouts and competition,” Transformation Committee co-chairs Greg Sankey, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, and Julie Cromer, athletic director of Ohio University, said in a statement.
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The Student Athlete Advisory Committee raised concerns about the transfer windows.
“SAAC fully supports several aspects of the transfer concept, but we believe that transfer windows unnecessarily restrict student-athletes’ freedom of movement,” Missouri volleyball player Brynn Carlson said.
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The proposal that raised a red flag among coaches and administrators was changing the rule to allow athletes to transfer as often as they wanted and play immediately, as along as they are academically eligible and progressing toward a degree.
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“Based on that dialogue, we will work to refine our proposal to address how transfer policies align with ongoing academic eligibility and degree progress requirements and deal with current and emerging issues facing college athletics,” Cromer and Sankey said. “Additionally, we will have the chance to learn more about the latest input from student-athletes around transfer windows.”