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The NCAA always seems to be tinkering with its rules whether its allowing players to play in four games and still use a redshirt or how many headsets teams can use on the sideline.
Sometimes the new rules work out for the better and sometimes they don’t, but the Division I council is always looking for ways to make the game safer, fairer, and possibly more exciting to watch.
The latest announcement includes four new proposals concerning transfers:
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Allow student-athletes who have enrolled in summer school and received athletics financial aid to transfer and play immediately if their head coach departs before the first day of classes for the fall term.
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Allow walk-on student-athletes on teams that provide athletics aid and nonrecruited walk-ons to transfer and play immediately.
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Require schools to count financial aid for postgraduate transfers who receive athletics aid and have one season of eligibility remaining in football, women’s basketball and men’s basketball against team limits for two years, regardless of whether the student-athlete remains enrolled after exhausting athletics eligibility. However, a student who successfully completes all degree requirements before the start of the second year would not count in the second year.
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Prohibit student-athletes in all sports from competing during the championship season for two different schools in the same academic year.
That third bullet point seems like it might be the most significant if it passes and would make schools consider more heavily whether they want to take a postgraduate transfer.
All of these have only been introduced into the cycle and would need to be voted on. It’s intriguing to see what the transfer working group is thinking about, but nothing would be set in stone until next summer at the earliest.
Nick covers SEC football for Saturday Down South.
