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Mid-Year Junior College Transfer Reminders

If you’re planning to transfer from a Junior College to an NCAA school, here are some things you need to know before you can take an official visit:

  • If as a first-year junior college athlete you are a Non-Qualifier for Division I (based on your high school academic performance), you are NOT allowed to take an official visit to a Division I university until you complete your freshman year at the two-year college. 

  • In addition, there are specific academic requirements that must be satisfied by a junior college athlete to be eligible as a transfer to an NCAA university, whether as a 2-4 transfer or a 4-2-4 transfer.  And it’s important to know that requirements differ between NCAA Divisions I, II and III. 

  • ALSO, If your junior college athlete has only been told that they must earn their Associates Degree to be eligible when they transfer to an NCAA university, that’s not a complete and accurate answer for what it takes to be eligible as a transfer from a two-year college. 

Do you Need Help Navigating Through a Transfer?

Contact us at rick@informedathlete.com or at 913-766-1235 to schedule a confidential Eligibility Consultation online for an explanation of the rules and academic requirements for a junior college athlete to transfer with immediate eligibility to an NCAA university.

We can also provide a Transcript Evaluation for your junior college athlete to determine whether they are on track to satisfy the academic requirements for a successful transfer. 

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Redshirt Rules for Fall 2025 Sports

We get a lot of questions about how a student-athlete can be classified as a redshirt to save a season of eligibility.   

In a recent newsletter, we shared info about the new NCAA Division II “redshirt” rule that applies to freshman in their first year of college at a D2 university.  If you haven’t read it, here’s a link to that article – on our website – https://informedathlete.com/new-ncaa-d2-eligibility-rule/

I thought it might be helpful if I share with you a review of the other redshirt rules that apply for Fall sports at the various college levels:

NCAA Division I sports other than Football and Wrestling

An athlete who enters a regular season contest (at the varsity or JV level) during the season in their Fall sport, even if only for one or two minutes or for one or two plays, will be using one of their four seasons of competitive eligibility. 

There is an exception for all Fall sports for participation in preseason scrimmages or exhibitions, BUT how such scrimmages or exhibitions are counted can vary from one sport to another.  

For that reason, it is best to communicate with the NCAA compliance director at your university to inquire whether appearing in an exhibition contest or preseason scrimmage for your team will count as using one of your four seasons of competition. 

NCAA Division I Football

Any athlete on a Division I football team can compete in up to four games without being charged with a season of competition.

NCAA Division I Wrestling

A freshman athlete on a Division I wrestling team can compete in up to five dates of competition (other than a season-ending championship event at the conference or national level) without being charged with a season of competition.

NCAA Division II Sports

An athlete other than a true freshman who enters a regular season contest (at the varsity or JV level) during the season in their Fall sport, even if only for one or two minutes or for one or two plays, will be using one of their four seasons of competitive eligibility. 

Freshman athletes at a D2 university may compete in up to 30 percent of the games or dates of competition in their sport without being charged with a season of competition.

There is also an exception for all Fall sports for participation in preseason scrimmages or exhibitions as described above in the section for all “Division I sports other than Football and Wrestling.”

NCAA Division III

To redshirt at the NCAA Division III level, an athlete must completely remove themselves from their team before the first game or contest of the season.

The D3 rules charge a “season of participation” if an athlete is practicing with their team once the season begins, even if the athlete never appears in a game for their team during the season.

NOTE:  This rule has “tripped up” athletes who transfer to Division III for what they expect to be their final season of eligibility after graduating from a non-D3 university. 

NJCAA and CCCAA

An athlete who enters a regular season contest (at the varsity or JV level) during the season in their Fall sport, even if only for one or two minutes or for one or two plays, will be using one of their seasons of competitive eligibility. 

NAIA

The NAIA charges an athlete with a season of competition if the athlete appears in more than 20 percent of the maximum number of games or dates of competition in their sport. 

However, any participation in NAIA-approved postseason competition will count as a season used (even if that is the athlete’s ONLY appearance in competition all season).

Do You Have Questions? 

If you are or have an athlete who has questions about redshirting or if they might qualify for a medical redshirt, we can help you navigate through the rules and requirements and provide you with options to consider in a confidential and private conversation.  To set up a time with Rick, you can schedule your confidential Eligibility Issues Consult online, send an email to rick@informedathlete.com or call us at 913-766-1235. 

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Why Your Student-Athlete Should NOT Withdraw From Classes!

A question that we often receive early in the school year is whether a student-athlete can withdraw from some or all of their classes without an eligibility “penalty.”  An athlete might wish to do this due to an injury or illness or second thoughts about their college choice.


If your athlete has already started attending their college classes this Fall as a full-time enrolled student, keep the following in mind:

Withdrawing from just one class may not harm eligibility if they will still be carrying a full-time course load.  However, If they withdraw from all courses, they’ll lose all their academic credits for this term which will damage their future eligibility.

Dropping a course later in the term to avoid a failing grade that will hurt the athlete’s GPA may be OK depending upon their circumstances, but you should encourage them to finish the semester (or quarter) if possible, instead of withdrawing from their courses.

To discuss a potential withdrawal situation and how it could impact your athlete’s eligibility, schedule a confidential Eligibility Consult online, e-mail rick@informedathlete.com or call our office at 913-766-1235.

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New NCAA D2 Eligibility Rule

Starting this Fall, a student-athlete who starts their college enrollment at an NCAA D2 university will be able to redshirt in their freshman year as long as they participate in less than 30% of the maximum permissible games or dates of competition in their sport. 

This is the same limitation for a student-athlete to qualify for a Medical Hardship Waiver, except that this new rule is a simple redshirt rule, with no requirement that an athlete must have a season-ending injury or illness.

This new rule will only apply for athletes who start as a freshman this Fall (or in future years) at a D2 university.  It will not be available for an athlete who is transferring to a D2 this Fall from another college or university.

Do You Have Questions?

Schedule a confidential Eligibility Issues consultation online to discuss your athlete’s situation.

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Frequently Asked Questions This Time of Year

With fall sports and classes starting, here’s a sample of some of the questions we frequently get this time of year: 

  • I’ve started practice with my college team, but I’m not sure this is the right fit for me and I’m thinking about leaving. Will that hurt my eligibility?
  • When does my eligibility “clock” start?
  • Will I be considered a transfer athlete if I leave this team after starting practices at this college?
  • What happens to my eligibility if I withdraw from classes after starting the semester?
  • My new coach just informed me that I likely won’t receive any playing time this season.  Do I have any options to transfer at this late date?  Or, could I take a gap year? 
  • I just learned that I may not be able to be eligible at my new college this year because I don’t have enough transferable credit hours.  Do I have any options for a waiver at this point?
  • How do I redshirt at the NCAA Division III level?

Do you have questions like these or others? 

We can help you in a confidential phone, Video, or What’s App consultation.  At one of these links, select a consultation:  Eligibility Issues Consult, a Transfer Consult, or a Scholarship Strategies Consult.  Don’t worry about whether you’re choosing the correct category of consultation.

Regardless of which category you choose, we will discuss your athlete’s specific situation, answer all your questions, and explain what options your athlete can consider.  Your privacy is our highest priority, therefore everything discussed is held in the highest confidence.  

You can also contact us directly by calling our office at 913-766-1235 or by sending an email to rick@informedathlete.com.

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NCAA House Settlement Details for NIL, Roster Limits and Opting In or Out

After months of anticipation, we’re finally able to share some details with you regarding the NCAA – House settlement and the ways in which it will impact NCAA Division I student-athletes and teams.

NIL

For NIL arrangements with third-parties other than their own university, Division I athletes are now required to report deals worth $600 or more to a new online platform called “NIL Go.”  (www.nilgo.com)

The goal of this new process is to gain some control over the value of NIL deals, so that they are more in line with what was originally intended for the use of an athlete’s name, image or likeness.  That is, for arrangements such as being compensated for autograph signing, personal appearances, or promoting businesses through social media, rather than what appear to be simple “pay for play” compensation deals for upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

NIL deals with third parties will be evaluated on the following three points:

  • The relationship between the “payor” and the athlete’s school.
  • Whether the payor offer of NIL compensation is for a valid business purpose.
  • Whether the compensation is reasonable for deals offered to other similar individuals (based on things like the athlete’s public recognition, number of social media followers, is the payor a local company or a nationally recognized brand? etc).

If an athlete’s NIL deal is Not Cleared through NIL Go, the athlete will have the option to revise the deal and resubmit for approval, to cancel the deal or can appeal through an arbitration process.

Note: This requirement applies to ALL Division I athletes, regardless of whether their school is opting-in to or is opting-out of the House settlement and is effective immediately.

Roster Limits


Defendant universities (ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12 and Pac-12) and other universities that Opt-In to the House settlement – referred to as “Participating Institutions” – will be held to the roster limits in each sport that have been publicized for the past few months.

 

However, Participating Institutions will be able to designate athletes who had been told that they were losing their roster spot due to the House settlement if they were on a Division I roster prior to April 7, 2025. Those Designated Student-Athletes will be allowed to continue participating with the team but will not count against a team’s roster limit.

  • The same will be true for recruited athletes who had signed with or been promised a roster sport with a team for the upcoming year before April 7.
  • Designated Student-Athletes must be declared by each Participating Institution and be reported to the NCAA by July 6. Once that list has been submitted to the NCAA, it can’t be revised.
  • Furthermore, except for Designated Student-Athletes (who will not count in roster limits), Fall sports must finalize and be at their limit by the first date of competition this Fall. For Winter and Spring sports teams, rosters must be finalized by either the first date of competition or December 1, 2025, whichever is earlier.
  • Participating Institutions that can afford to do so will have the opportunity to provide full scholarship funding to every athlete on their roster, rather than being restricted to the scholarship limits for each team that have been a part of Division I athletics for many years.

Those universities that Opt-Out of the House settlement will have no specific roster limits (except for Division I baseball), but they will continue to be held to the current scholarship limits in each sport.

Opting in or Opting Out

Schools that are current members of the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC, as well as schools that choose to Opt-In to the House settlement will be referred to as Participating Institutions.

  • Those schools will be allowed to directly share revenue earned by the athletic departments with their student-athletes, in addition to having the opportunity to provide full scholarships to those athletes.
  • Schools must formally Opt-In for the 2025-26 school year no later than June 30. A full list of participating schools will then be made public.
  • Going forward, on an annual basis, schools outside of the major conferences will need to declare each year if they are Opting-In or Opting-Out for the upcoming school year no later than March 1.

Do You Have Questions?

Schedule a confidential Scholarship Strategies consultation online if you have questions about the settlement, and we’ll do our best to answer them with the resource materials that we have access to from the NCAA, or by calling us at 913-766-1235 or writing to rick@informedathlete.com.

 

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Should High School Recruits Consider a Gap Year?

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NCAA Academic Requirements for 4-4 and 2-4 Transfers

The academic requirements for a student-athlete to be eligible when transferring to a new university depend upon several factors, including the number of semesters when an athlete has been enrolled in college and taking classes as a full-time student. This is especially true for any athlete transferring to the NCAA Division I level.

When a junior college athlete who will be transferring to an NCAA Division I university has attended the junior college for more than two years (which has been somewhat common ever since the onset of the pandemic), the academic requirements to be eligible can become even more complicated.

Here is one reason why – think of the situation this way:

How will an athlete attending a two-year college that only offers freshman and sophomore level courses earn junior level course credits that will be acceptable for transfer to a Division I university if they’ve been attending a junior college for three years?

We can provide a confidential Eligibility Consultation to inform you and your athlete of the specific academic requirements that he or she will need to satisfy to be eligible when they transfer to a new university.

We also have a Transcript Review Service in which we assess your athlete’s transcript to estimate and inform you about the courses that will be transferable to the next university to satisfy the NCAA transfer requirements. This is available for a transfer from a two-year college or from one four-year university to another.

Contact us at rick@informedathlete.com or call our office at 913-766-1235 for more information regarding our services.

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NAIA “Season of Competition” Rule Is Used to Approve Medical Hardship Waivers

While the NCAA uses medical hardship waivers, the NAIA has a different approach for their student-athletes who have a season-ending injury, physical illness or mental health condition.

In those situations, the NAIA uses a “season of competition” rule for student–athletes who compete in no more than the permissible number of games in their sport.

Under this rule, the NAIA will only charge a student-athlete with the use of a season of competition if the student-athlete participates in more than 20% of the maximum number of games or dates of competition in their sport.

As an example, if an NAIA baseball or softball athlete competes in no more than 10 games during this season AND doesn’t compete in any post-season games (even if they are still under 10 games total) that athlete will not be charged with the use of a “season of competition” under the NAIA rules.

Do you Have Questions?

If you have questions about this rule and how it may impact your athlete – or a question about a hardship waiver for an athlete who has transferred to an NAIA program from an NCAA or a junior college program – schedule a confidential Eligibility Consult online. You can also call us at 913-766-1235 or send an email to rick@informedathlete.com for more information.

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NCAA Division III Graduate Eligibility

We recently consulted with an athlete who was planning to transfer to an NCAA Division III school for her final season of eligibility in her sport but was told that she has no more eligibility available under the Division III rules for a graduate transfer.

One of the key Division III eligibility rules is that an athlete can only compete in D3 as a graduate student (or to earn a second undergraduate degree) if the athlete previously graduated from a D3 school.

  • There is an Exception for some athletes who graduated from a non-D3 school, but one of the conditions for that Exception is that the athlete will be charged with a “Season of Participation” at their original school even if it was considered a Redshirt season under the rules of the other Division or organization.
  • Refer to our Blog Post of Aug. 27, 2024 – https://informedathlete.com/redshirt-rules-2024-fall-sport-athletes/ – for an explanation of a Season of Participation in D3.

If you have Eligibility questions regarding your student-athlete:

Schedule a confidential Eligibility Consultation online, contact us at rick@informedathlete.com, or call 913-766-1235.


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