There is an interesting report this evening from
247 Sports concerning a major potential change to NCAA transfer rules that
could create levels of roster turnover never before seen in college sports.
Namely, NCAA members may vote in the
spring to end the rule requiring Division I transfers to sit out a year before
playing at their new school.
In a potentially paradigm-shifting
proposal, the NCAA members may vote to allow all Division-I transfers to be
eligible to play immediately. The only potential restrictions are that
student-athletes would be asked to meet a minimum GPA, in order to transfer
immediately, and that any additional transfer would require the
student-athletes to sit out a full year. The proposal, which is being solicited
among members for feedback, is gaining increased traction in recent weeks, a
source confirms.
The change would apply to all
sports, but the greatest impact would seem to fall on college basketball, which
has what a lot of coaches consider too many transfers and one-and-dones, and
too little continuity as it is. Basketball players can more easily move from
one system to another than football players can, and the sport already has a
robust market for graduate transfers, who currently don't have to sit out a
year before playing at their new school.
Within recent weeks, it has become
more clear that the latter option of immediate eligibility for transfers who
achieve a minimum GPA is the one gaining traction amongst members. The proposal
must be completed by Nov. 1. The members of the Transfer Working Group will
continue to seek feedback from fellow coaches, directors, commissioners and
student-athletes in the days ahead, but it is becoming more likely that the
proposal will be voted upon next April with the possibility of this going into
effect as early as the 2018-19 calendar.
The prospect of this kind of a
change hitting college basketball is at once thrilling and horrifying.
Thrilling because outside of the games themselves, few things in sports are as
dramatic and interesting as players being recruited and picking teams.
Horrifying because of the increased potential for prestigious programs to be
constantly picking off talented players from lesser programs or conferences,
and all the tampering and shenanigans that would go into making it happen.
This makes me worried for college
basketball. Yet in the final analysis, I can't in good conscience take the
position that players shouldn't have the same opportunity to pursue new
opportunities that their coaches have.
So saddle up, I guess.
Tully
Corcoran