College transfers may no longer have to sit out a year before suiting up at their new school.
Sports Illustrated reportedly obtained proposed legislation that suggests the NCAA Division I Council “is expected to introduce the proposal into the NCAA’s 2020-21 legislative cycle at its meeting Wednesday, with a vote coming in January for an effective date of Aug. 1, 2021.”
If the proposal, which was developed by the NCAA Working Group on Transfers, goes through, all NCAA athletes will be allowed to transfer school one time without penalty. Currently, athletes competing in baseball, basketball, football and men’s ice hockey must sit out a season after transferring — unless they receive a waiver — due to a rule adopted in the 1960s.
More waivers have been handed out in recent years, suggesting there would eventually be a proposal like the one developed by the Working Group on Transfers.
If the legislation is adopted, the transfer market would still have regulations. Athletes choosing to transfer must leave their previous school academically eligible in order to immediately play at their next school. They cannot play at two different schools during the same academic season, while an athlete’s original school cannot object to a transfer.
Athletes competing in fall or winter sports would have to notify schools of a transfer by May 1. That time period is extended to July 1 in the case of “an end-of-the-year head coaching change or the non-renewal of scholarships,” according to SI. All spring athletes have until July 1 to notify schools of a transfer.
SI’s Pat Forde and Ross Dellenger also reported that the NCAA Division I Council is expected to approve legislation that would allow college athletes to be compensated for their name, image and likeness. While the council is expected to approve the long-awaited legislation during Wednesday’s meeting, formal approval of the 22-page document cannot come until January. The NCAA’s legislation may be rendered moot if the United States Congress passes its own NIL legislation.
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According to SI, the NCAA would allow agents to sign athletes to deals in order to “give advice for NIL ventures, assist in contract negotiations and help market an athlete’s NIL ventures.” There will be limits to what athletes can do, such as not promoting products like sports gambling or banned substances that conflict “with NCAA legislation.” An athlete’s school can prohibit the athlete from endorsing a product that conflicts with the university’s values.
According to the proposed legislation obtained by SI, the rule changes would allow athletes to use their name, image and likeness in order to:
- Promote private lessons and business activities and operate their own camps and clinics, as long as they do not use school marks.
- Profit from endorsing products through commercials and other ventures, as long as they do not use any school marks or reveal the school in which they attend. They are only allowed to refer to “their involvement in intercollegiate athletics generally,” according to documents.
- Be compensated for autograph sessions, as long as they do not occur during an institution event or competition and no school marks or apparel is used during the sale of the material.
- Solicit funds through crowdfunding, such as GoFundMe, for non-profit or charities, catastrophic events, family hardships and educational experiences, such as internships.
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