NCAA DI Transfer Rule Changes for Immediate Eligibility

The NCAA’s DI transfer rule change will help qualified DI non-scholarship student-athletes to be immediately eligible in their first season at a new university.

At the recent NCAA Rules Seminar in Indianapolis, I got additional clarification which I’m sharing in this blog post.

Walk-on/Non-recruited Transfer Exceptions

An athlete transferring to a Division I university next Fall as an undergraduate will have the chance to be immediately eligible if:

• The athlete’s previous four-year college provided athletic scholarships in their sport, but the athlete has not received an athletic scholarship, OR

• The athlete’s previous four-year college did not provide athletic scholarships, and the athlete was not “recruited” by the previous four-year college.

There is one aspect of this change that has NOT received much publicity at all, but is one that has previously been a concern for many of our clients:

The university these athletes will be leaving WILL NOT BE ABLE TO OBJECT to the athlete being immediately eligible next year at their new university.

However, it IS necessary to be academically eligible at the time you leave your previous university in order to receive an athletic scholarship in your first year at a new Division I university.

Do you have questions?

If you have questions about the changes to the NCAA Division I transfer rules, contact us at 913-766-1235 or via e-mail at rick@informedathlete.com