Starting next season, major college footballers and basketball players will be able to switch once before graduating without having to sit out for a year of competition.
The NCAA Division I Council voted Wednesday to change the long-standing rule that has often deterred players in high-profile sports from switching schools, two people aware of the board’s decision told The Associated Press.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the two-day meeting was still underway and the council’s decisions would not become official until it ends Thursday. The Athletic first announced the vote of the council.
The so-called one-time exception has been available to athletes in other NCAA sports for years, allowing them to transition and play immediately. Athletes in football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s ice hockey and baseball have not had that at their disposal without asking the NCAA for a special waiver and claiming that a hardship prompted the need for a transfer.
Athletes who have graduated may also transfer without sitting, regardless of the sport, but students are not.
From this autumn semester, all athletes will work according to the same rules: transfers can play immediately.
Those into fall and winter sports should notify their school before May 1 that they intend to transfer; in spring sports, the notification date is July 1. The notification dates start in 2022.
For this year, athletes in all sports must notify their schools of their intention to make the switch by July 1.
The council also voted to allow the current recruitment dead period in all sports to end on June 1. A ban on personal recruiting has been in effect for over a year due to the pandemic. Coaches are again allowed to visit off-campus recruits, hold camps on campus, and welcome prospective student athletes to official recruiting visits.