The NCAA’s autonomy conferences Tuesday voted to allow schools to rescind a student-athlete’s scholarship at the end of an academic term if the student notifies the school of an impending transfer.
According to a post on the NCAA’s website, the decision is part of a comprehensive overhaul of transfer and eligibility rules. Just last week the Division I council adopted legislation that allows student-athletes to transfer and receive a scholarship without first asking permission from their current school.
“In fairness to the transfer student-athlete’s teammates, coaching staff and overall team dynamic, the Division I SAAC [Student-Athlete Advisory Committee] felt that a student-athlete should not be able to give notification, search for other opportunities, then return to their institution if dissatisfied with their options with no repercussions,” said SAAC chair Noah Knight, former men’s basketball student-athlete and graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
The Big 12 sponsored the measure, noting that allowing school to cancel aid immediately provided a measure of fairness to student-athletes remaining at the school.
The NCAA cast the autonomy vote as a companion piece to the transfer legislation adopted by the Division I Council last week, which allows students greater choice of schools to attend when transferring because they now can get a scholarship from the destination school after transfer without having to receive permission from their current school.
The legislation also strengthens the penalties for coaches who tamper with student-athletes on other Division I rosters and creates a national database so that schools know which student-athletes are interested in transferring.
