Report: NCAA Discusses Rule Change to Allow Unlimited Transfers Without Sitting Out

There may be even more transferring in college sports in the near future.

Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic reported Monday that the NCAA's Division I Council will consider proposed legislation that would remove limits for the number of times an athlete can transfer. The legislation, which the council can adopt at its April 17-18 meeting, would also allow athletes to transfer and play immediately if they are academically eligible.

While athletes wouldn't have a limit for the number of times they could transfer, they could not transfer during an ongoing season and play for a second school during that same campaign.

Auerbach added a note on the timing:

John Raby of the Associated Press reported on the temporary restraining order that a federal judge issued in December and noted West Virginia was one of seven states to file a lawsuit alleging the NCAA was violating federal antitrust law by preventing athletes from being immediately eligible if they transferred a second time.

Under the NCAA rule, athletes who were not granted a waiver had to sit out a year before being eligible to play if they had previously transferred in the past.

The proposal isn't the only thing the council will consider during the April 17-18 meetings, as Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports explained it will also review and potentially adopt changes that will give individual schools more of a role in name, image and likeness situations.

Dellenger reported Thursday that the NCAA's NIL group introduced a proposal that would grant schools the opportunity to facilitate NIL deals with third parties for their athletes. As with the transfer proposal, the council could adopt it as expedited legislation during the upcoming meeting.

College athletes have far more individual freedoms and rights in today's games than they did in the past, as NIL opportunities allow them to make money without turning professional and the one-time transfer exception allows them to play immediately even if they change schools.

Yet these proposals could grant even more opportunities and individual liberties for athletes and will likely lead to additional transfers across various sports.

That means transfer portals that typically have thousands of student-athletes enter them could get even more crowded in the near future.