As fall sports have taken the reins of recent headlines, the NCAA transfer portal continues to remain steady as a central hub for student-athletes searching to find a new home. With the transfer portal entering into year 5 of establishment, we decided to take a deeper look into the transformations throughout the years, along with how current trends surrounding the NCAA may be impacting the transferring landscape.
Timeline
Transfer Portal Throughout The Years
October 15, 2018: The NCAA announced significant changes to transfer rules, including the establishment of the NCAA transfer portal. The establishment of the transfer portal eliminated the need for players to ask permission from their current coaching staff to leave and look elsewhere. Prior to the portal, coaches would intentionally block their players from potential schools, ultimately discouraging transferring all together.
2019: Incoming freshman collegiate athletes who have enrolled in summer school and received athletics financial aid can transfer and play immediately without a waiver if their head coach departs before the first day of classes for the fall term.
2020: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes in all sports at the time, referred to as “the COVID year”. When the pandemic was at its peak, the NCAA also went into a blackout period, where coaches were not allowed to contact any players or conduct any official visits. With the “COVID year” now in effect, the transfer portal saw an influx of student-athletes wishing to take advantage of the extra year at another institution.
2021: As of April 2021, the NCAA announced that student-athletes transferring for the first time will not have to sit out a year and will immediately be eligible. This became known as the “one-time transfer rule”.
2022: August 31, 2022, the NCAA introduced the concept of “transfer windows”. Student-athletes now must transfer schools in their designated window, that being slightly different for each sport.
- Fall sports: A 45-day winter window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport, and a spring window from May 1–15.
- Winter sports: A 60-day window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport.
- Spring sports: A winter window from December 1–15, and a 45-day spring window opening the day after championship selections are made in that sport.
2023: October 4, 2023, the NCAA approved changes to notification of transfer windows.
- Fall sports: 30 days in the fall, beginning seven days after a sport’s championship selection, and 15 days in the spring (May 1-15).
- Winter sports: 45 days, beginning seven days after championship selection.
- Spring sports: 30 days in the spring, beginning seven days after a sport’s championship selection, and 15 days in the fall (Dec. 1-15).
Current Hot Topics
Per NCAA database as of 2022, the primary reason for women’s sports transfers was mental health (61%) and conflict with coaches or teammates (56%), whereas the top reason for men’s sports transfers was mental health (40%) and playing time/participation opportunities (36%).
Being that the analytics dictate only a face-valued assumption of why the athletes are truly transferring, the public does not know the possible injuries that result in identity crisis’, clashes with coaches that cause players to lose interest in their sport, coaches bias in playing time, and many other factors that are never talked about.
However, a concept that has become common knowledge to the public is Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) and how colleges are using it to their advantage to sway players’ opinions. It is no secret that college coaches pull out the red carpet when recruits come onto campus, as they want to show the player that aside from their great facilities, they also have the finances to cater to their needs and NIL ambitions.
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss football head coach, has publicly stated numerous times his discontent at how NIL has affected not just the transfer portal, but college football itself. At an SEC media day, Kiffin stated that the current trend of the portal is a “free agency”, with players not just finding the school suited best for them football wise, but also financially. Kiffin the last two years has had the number one ranked class in transfers, and although he places high respect on his teams culture, his outlook on the changing landscape in which NIL has brought to the transfer portal has not changed.
Dino Babers, Syracuse University head football coach, has also spoken about the matter, stating “Schools like us, we’re not going to have a lot of depth because it gets bought away”. Babers provides an insiders look on a coaches perspective who may not have as many “NIL opportunities” as that of his competitor.
Academic Requirements
There is a running 5-year clock in which all student-athletes are given to complete their degree, whether a walk-on, redshirt, or scholarship player. The NCAA places strong emphasis on their athletes staying just as focused in the classroom as they are outside of it, and even have a “track to graduate” for athletes of all divisions.
To be eligible to play in division I, a student-athlete must have at least 6 credit hours each term and meet the minimum grade point average per the school’s GPA, which is usually 2.0.
To be eligible to play in division II, a student-athlete must have at least 9-credit hours each term and meet the minimum GPA requirement of 2.0.
Division III does not obtain specific requirements other than the student achieving satisfactory improvement towards his or her degree.
As a graduate transfer, being that the student has another year of sports eligibility remaining, the student must graduate from their current collegiate institution. From there, the graduate student would enter their name into the portal, and begin the process as normal.
Although entering the transfer portal does not directly affect academics, there is the possibility of a student-athletes’ degree track being prolonged, as any university may accept or deny specific credits from the previous institution.
Transfer Window
As of October 4, 2023, the NCAA has approved a shorter transfer window for student-athletes across the board, including shortening a 60-day transfer window to 45 days for college football, and mens and womens basketball. This decision came after data showed 61% of transfers are entered into the transfer portal in the first 30 days, per NCAA.
For all other sports, transfer windows are as followed:
Fall sports: 30 days in the fall, beginning seven days after a sport’s championship selection, and 15 days in the spring.
Winter sports: 45 days, beginning seven days after championship selection.
Spring sports: 30 days in the spring, beginning seven days after a sport’s championship selection, and 15 days in the fall.