Tag Archive for: NCAA Transfers
Representatives from the NCAA Division I membership will be voting on proposed “Uniform Transfer Legislation” at the January NCAA Convention.
If approved, this legislation will permit all Division I student-athletes – even scholarship athletes in basketball and football – the opportunity to transfer one time to a new school with the chance to be eligible and not have to sit out from competition in their first year at the new university.
Here are some key points to note about this proposed legislation:
- Student-athletes transferring to an NCAA Division I program for the 2021-22 academic year will be able to benefit from this rule change.
- This will be a one-time opportunity that can be used at any point during a student-athlete’s eligibility. It can be used as an undergrad or as a grad transfer, but not both.
- Student-athletes must be eligible at the time of their transfer.
- Athletes will not be permitted to compete for two different programs in the same school year.
- Coaches and athletic departments will not be able to object to the athlete’s transfer.
- Student-athletes and their new head coach will be required to affirm that recruiting didn’t occur until after the athlete’s name appeared in the NCAA Transfer Portal.
- Under this proposal, student-athletes will have a deadline to enter the Transfer Portal in order to take advantage of this new rule – May 1 for Fall and Winter sports and July 1 for Spring sports.
- There will likely be exceptions to those deadlines granted for student-athletes in situations when there is a head coaching change or when an athlete is informed of a scholarship reduction or non-renewal.
Potential pitfalls and concerns
- With a proposed deadline of May 1st for Fall sport athletes in a year when most Fall sports have been shifted to the Spring, student-athletes who are considering a transfer may need to enter the Transfer Portal before their season concludes (unless an exception is granted for this particular situation).
- The dates noted above could also have a very significant impact for student-athletes who may want to transfer at midyear. An athlete who might be thinking next Fall about a midyear transfer would not be able to use this new rule unless they had already entered the Transfer Portal before May 1 or July 1 (depending upon their sport).
This means that midyear transfers won’t be eligible in their first year at their new school unless the rule is revised or if another exception is established.
- Also, it’s unclear at this time whether conferences will still impose restrictions or penalties on athletes who transfer from one school to another within the same conference.
If your athlete is considering a transfer and you would like to review and discuss the Transfer rules, purchase and schedule a confidential Transfer Consult online or by calling our office at 913-766-1235.
That depends.
The final decision to transfer must be made by an athlete and family based on a number of factors. But we can help you to consider the pros and cons of a possible transfer by having a confidential discussion of the factors to consider.
Such factors/questions include:
- Do the rules applying to your sport and situation give you the opportunity to be eligible next year with a new team? (Baseball, basketball, football, and men’s ice hockey can be more difficult.)
- How many seasons of eligibility do you have remaining?
- Will you satisfy the academic requirements to be eligible as a transferring student-athlete?
- Are you transferring to another four-year college, or to a junior college to be re-recruited to another four-year college?
Do you need assistance?
If you want to discuss your specific situation as it relates to these questions and the options your student-athlete can consider, schedule a confidential transfer consultation online or by calling us at 913-766-1235 or sending an email to rick@informedathlete.com
One of our clients recently shared their son’s personal experience as a baseball transfer and granted permission for us to share it anonymously with our readers.
Many of you have had your own transfer experience, but this is the first time that we’ve received this level of detailed feedback about going through a transfer. We thought some of you may find this of interest:
“Hi Rick,
Just wanted to update you on son’s transfer status:
XXXX was admitted to XXXX as a mid-year baseball transfer last week. He is excited to say the least. Arm health permitting he is eligible to play in Spring 2020.
Below are some take-aways from son’s very quick mid-year transfer experience:
– His original school did a good job getting him on NCAA Transfer Portal, no issues there.
-Transfer Portal brought significant interest from numerous D2’s and even JUCOs, maybe 15-20 over course of 2-weeks. I believe only one D1 contacted him through the portal.
– Most traction came from son reaching out to programs who saw him before his surgery. They were all willing to bank on him getting back to his pre-surgery low-90s.
– Within the first 5-days he had target interest from five D1s and multiple high academic D3s.
– Had offers from several schools.
– Committed to D3 XXX and with coach support was admitted Early Decision earlier this month.
– The transfer process was quick, with fall baseball ending in late October and mid-year transfer application deadlines being November 1 for schools that offer mid-year transfer.
That’s it, Rick. Thanks for all your counsel.”
Need Advice?
Considering a transfer to another school can be extremely stressful and so overwhelming that many student-athletes quit their sport altogether and sometimes they drop out of school.
We understand the frustration, anger, fear and insecurities that often result. It doesn’t have to be that way – Rick Allen can help guide you through the process.
Schedule a confidential Transfer Consult Online or call us at 913-766-1235 to set your confidential session with Rick.
This past week we received multiple requests from families for options their student-athlete can consider if he or she chooses to withdraw from all classes and leave their college now in the middle of the semester.
We often advise that the student-athlete not leave unless they have a well thought out plan in place. The plan should include considering their current and future NCAA academic eligibility status, and how it affects their scholarship obligations. A potential transfer to another school and the steps involved is another important consideration.
We have advised many student-athletes and prepared such a plan so that they don’t damage their future eligibility. When working with student-athletes and their families, the most important aspect of the plan is to review and discuss the academic eligibility requirements that must be satisfied to make sure they will be eligible at their next college.
If you have a student-athlete who is considering leaving their college before the “drop/add date” or one who just wants to plan ahead for a possible transfer at the end of this school year, we can work with and guide you through the transfer process. To schedule your personalized, confidential consultation, call our office at 913-766-1235.
Here are 3 scenarios that I frequently hear then I’m contacted by student-athletes or their families regarding the transfer process. In each of these cases, the NCAA Division I student-athlete was planning to transfer and was ready to, or already had, resigned from their team, and in one case, the student-athlete had already withdrawn from classes at his current college.
Read further to learn what happened:
Case A:
The student-athlete made up his mind to transfer, and requested permission from his coach to contact other schools. He informed the coach that he was going to finish out the semester in school, but wasn’t going to continue as a team member in team practice.
Result: He called me the next day to ask about the rules when he found out that his athletic scholarship was being cancelled immediately, potentially costing him and his family thousands of dollars. At that point, it was too late to help him.
Case B:
The student-athlete learned through a friend of an opportunity at another college, and withdrew from his classes to pursue this other opportunity. Unfortunately, he had already begun attending classes for this semester at his current school.
Result: The family contacted me to confirm that if he didn’t complete this semester where he was, that he wouldn’t be eligible next Fall at the new college. He did indeed have to get re-admitted to classes for this semester at his current school and complete this semester.
Case C:
The father of a student-athlete sent this e-mail:
“He is still there, enrolled for the Spring semester, but called me tonight and plans to resign from the team tomorrow and request permission to transfer. If he resigns from the team, is the school still obligated to pay his room and board payments after his resignation through the end of the semester? He thinks they would since he signed a one year scholarship.”
Result: Because this father contacted me prior to his son’s conversation with the coach to fully understand the consequences of his son’s plan and discuss how to properly handle this situation, he saved nearly $5000 in room and board benefits that his son would have lost had he resigned from his team.
It’s always better and less expensive to understand the rules and how they apply to your situation BEFORE costly mistakes are made!
In 2 of the above cases, if the parent or student-athlete had contacted me BEFORE they took action, I could have advised them on how to handle the situation and helped save them potentially thousands of dollars and/or alot of stress that resulted.
In the 3rd case, I was able to head off a negative outcome by alerting the parent and student-athlete to what would happen if the student-athlete quit the team in the middle of the semester. We then discussed how to navigate through the rest of the semester to result in the student-athlete’s ultimate desired outcome.
I have worked on both sides of the cases related above. In my 26+ years of working on major DI college campuses as the Director of Compliance, I’ve had to inform many student-athletes that their scholarships were cancelled after they quit the team.
One of the reasons we started Informed Athlete was to help student-athletes and their families avoid situations like this.
In my 10+ years of advising student-athletes and their families through Informed Athlete, I’ve helped hundreds of student-athletes avoid situations where this type of thing happens, saving them thousands of dollars and all kinds of stress.
In order to help you understand the rules and how they apply to your unique situation, I recommend a private phone consultation.
We’ll discuss your situation, answer any questions, and we’ll review the rules that apply and what is/isn’t permissible. I’ll also give you options as to the opportunities that might be available to your athlete. Many times both the parent(s) and the student-athlete are on the call and I coach the student-athlete on how to approach and what to say to the coach.
To schedule a CONFIDENTIAL phone consult, you can schedule online, call us directly at 913-766-1235 or send an email to rick@informedathlete.com
NCAA Division I representatives have voted to change the requirement that an athlete must first obtain permission from their university before coaches at other universities can speak with them about a possible transfer.
The change in the rule does not take effect until October 15. On that date, the need for “permission to contact” will give way to “Notification of Transfer.”
When this change takes effect, a Division I athlete (one attending a Division I university at the time they decide to transfer) will be able to simply notify their athletic department that they plan to transfer and want to contact other colleges.
Here’s how this will impact Division I athletes who choose to transfer on or after October 15:
- The student-athlete will be required to notify their athletic department in writing or via email that they are planning to transfer to another college.
- The student-athlete’s university will be required to enter his or her name into an official transfer database managed by the NCAA within two business days of the written notification.
- Once the athlete’s name is in the database, coaches at other colleges can contact that athlete regarding his or her desire to transfer.
- This new rule does NOT yet change anything about whether the athlete can be immediately eligible upon transfer to a new university.
The athletic scholarship of an athlete providing transfer notification can be cancelled by their university at the end of the semester in which they provide such notification.
As a result, an athlete giving transfer notification to their Division I university in November, for example, will not be able to retain their scholarship for the Spring even if they’re planning to complete the academic year at their original university.
If you would like more information and assistance regarding the transfer process for your student-athlete, click here to schedule a consultation.
For NCAA Division I student-athletes, their GPA is increasingly becoming an important factor if they want to transfer to another college or university to continue their college athletic career. This is because a student-athlete leaving a Division I program can cost the program an APR point, which can end up being quite significant.
APR, in NCAA terminology, refers to the Academic Progress Rate. NCAA Division I athletic teams must have a sufficient APR in order to be eligible for postseason play.
To determine each team’s APR, each student-athlete on an athletic scholarship is “worth” two points at the end of each term – the eligibility point and the retention point. If the student-athlete is eligible for the next term, and stays at their school for the next term, they have “earned” two points for their team for that semester. If an athlete is eligible for the next term, but chooses to transfer to another school, their team will lose the retention point.
However, a university can receive an “adjustment” from the NCAA and won’t lose an APR retention point if the athlete transferring to another four-year college has a GPA of at least 2.600.
How is this important to the student-athlete themselves?
Increasingly, I am hearing that some Division I coaches have been denying “permission to contact” for student-athletes who have requested permission to talk to other four-year colleges about a possible transfer unless the student-athlete has a GPA of at least 2.600.
So, a Division I athlete with a 2.500 GPA, for example, could be academically eligible to compete the next season if they were staying at their current school, and could meet the transfer eligibility requirements to be immediately eligible at another four-year college.
But they could be denied permission to speak with coaches and athletic staff at another college about a possible transfer because their GPA is below 2.600 and their current team could lose an APR retention point.
What’s the “takeaway” for Division I student-athletes (and parents) to remember?
Your GPA is obviously important for eligibility and to maintain academic scholarships, but is becoming increasingly important, especially if you want to transfer to another four-year college at some point in the future.
If you are considering a transfer and you would like to discuss your options, contact Rick Allen at 913-766-1235 or rick@informedathlete.com for a private consultation. We’ve helped thousands of athletes and parents to understand the rules and steps in the transfer process. We can help you evaluate your options and navigate the transfer process with complete confidentiality.
If you’re a four-year college athlete (or the parent of one) considering a transfer to another school, are you properly prepared to approach your coach and know what to expect? Are you confident that you know what to say, and more importantly, what NOT to say?
In our CONFIDENTIAL Consultation, we’ll guide you through all the steps, and inform you of the rules and academic requirements to give you the best opportunity to be immediately eligible at the next university. We’ll also inform you of your rights if your coach tries to block your transfer or places limits on the other universities that you can contact.
If you need guidance in navigating the steps to a successful transfer, contact us at 913-766-1235 or send an email to rick@informedathlete.com.
The answer depends upon a number of factors, some of which include:
- The athlete’s sport
- The athlete’s scholarship status
- The athlete’s academic standing
The transfer rules are different for selected sports, and within those sports, may be different for a non-scholarship, non-recruited athlete.
There could also be additional rules that are specific to the particular conference that the Division I school is a member of.
For that reason, a confidential phone consultation is the best way to answer the question for each particular athlete.
However, as a starting point, individuals with transfer questions may want to start out by reviewing our “Informed Athlete’s Comprehensive Guide to Transfers” which can be purchased at this link through the Store of our website:
https://informedathlete.com/services/comprehensive-transfer-guide/
If you’d like to schedule a phone consultation, or discuss that option, contact us at rick@informedathlete.com, or at 913-766-1235.
