NCAA Division 1 Council recommends rule change allowing multiple transfers without penalty

The ever-evolving college athletic transfer landscape could be set to change again — soon.

The NCAA announced Wednesday its Division I Council is recommending college athletes be allowed more than one transfer without penalty, and outlined transfer windows throughout the school year year. 

The endorsements, which go up for vote on by the Board of Directors in August, suggest eliminating the rule that prohibits transferring more than once and the creation of windows a player must notify its school of a transfer in order to maintain eligibility.

If passed, the rule changes would alter the transfer landscape for the careers of current high school athletes who will go on to play in college. 

Fall sports would get a 45-day window after an athlete's respective sports' selection of an NCAA postseason field to give schools a written notice. There would be an additional 15-day window between May 1 and May 15.

The current rules bar athletes from more than one athletic transfer and in many cases require an athlete to sit out a redshirt year after transferring. Current transfer portal timelines give more leeway. Athletes in fall sports may currently transfer any time before May 1.

The recommendations were introduced by the NCAA's Transformation Committee, which was formed to make recommendations at steering college athletics into a new era. 

The introduction of the transfer portal has been met with an uptick in transfers in recent years, making it a hot-button topic for discourse and dissent from all corners of the college sports world.

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Photo by Vince Miller