NCAA Transfer Rule Changes Effective October 15th

The NCAA transfer rules at this time require that student-athletes must request and obtain “permission to contact” from their current college before coaches at other NCAA colleges can speak with them about a possible transfer.

If you are thinking about requesting this “permission to contact” in the middle of your Fall sport season, we strongly encourage you to contact us for a transfer consultation so we can explain the steps in the process and inform you what to say, and NOT say, to your coach and athletic department.

Effective October 15, the NCAA transfer process will change and those changes will be somewhat different depending upon whether you are attending an NCAA Division I, II, or III institution. The transfer procedures will change for NCAA Division I and II (but not in the same way), but won’t change at all for Division III athletes.

NCAA Division I athletes will no longer need to request “permission” to contact coaches at other colleges, but instead will simply inform their current university that they want to speak with other colleges about a transfer. Their college will then add the athlete’s name and contact info to a “transfer database” being established by the NCAA.

Once a Division I athlete informs their university of their plan to transfer, the university has the right to cancel the athlete’s sport scholarship at the end of the semester. It’s also possible that the coach will immediately remove the athlete from their team.

NCAA Division II athletes will still need to request and receive permission from their current college to speak with coaches at other schools about a transfer. If/when that permission is granted, athletes at Division II colleges will have their name added to the same “transfer database” mentioned above.

When a student-athlete’s name is added to the transfer database, their contact info will be visible by any other NCAA college. Athletes who know specifically what college they plan to transfer to (or have a very short list) can ask their college to indicate in the new transfer database that they don’t want to be contacted by other colleges.

The compliance office at an athlete’s college will then complete a Transfer Tracer Form (or Transfer Questionnaire) and will upload it to the Transfer Database where it will be visible to other institutions, even those that an athlete has no interest in transferring to or ones to which their transfer has been denied.

It’s important to note that the rules regarding whether an athlete can be immediately eligible for competition at their new university have NOT changed.

To discuss a potential transfer and the steps to follow, as well as the academic requirements for eligibility, schedule a confidential phone consult or email consult online, send an email to rick@informedathlete.com or call us at 913-766-1235.