There have been plenty of coaches who have said the NCAA should allow players to have a free, one-time transfer with no penalty of having to sit out a season. Well, those coaches might be getting their wish as according to Bryan Fischer of Althon Sports, the NCAA will make it official for one year (2021-22) transfer during their April meetings after the NCAA basketball tournament concludes.
Source: NCAA is moving forward with one-time transfers. D1 Council will vote on a waiver to allow one-time transfers for the upcoming year (2021-22) at their April meeting after the Final Four.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) March 8, 2021
Could this ruling potentially give the NCAA more ammo to try this in the future? I certainly think so, as this “one-year” move could lead to a rule change for the transfer portal. Why? It’s due to the amount of players who have entered the portal, many of them having issues finding a new home.
By having the one-time free transfer, it would allow players to right potential wrongs in their recruitment, if their coach they committed to leaves, a family situation comes up or anything else they deem its necessary to move on from their original school.
Rewind back to when you were 17-18 year’s old, many of us had no idea what we wanted, made impulsive decisions that we look back on there’s regret. The NCAA would allow the student-athletes to right their wrong, just one-time, and move on to a different school penalty free.
With the NCAA on the verge of experimenting with this rule, this has potential for future usage of this rule. The transfer portal has exploded with so many players entering, this most likely wasn’t the intention when they originally came up with the idea.
Evolution of the portal is necessary and this could be a way of adjusting it to make it more player friendly. Hopefully, the NCAA sees it the same way as well.