Changes coming to basketball transfer portal window
On Wednesday, the NCAA announced that things would be changing for the Division-I men’s and women’s basketball transfer portal window. The change is one that should be universally supported.
The Division-I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees proposed a rules change that would shift the timeline of the window to the end of the season. The official proposal states that “the notification-of-transfer windows [will] open for 15 days starting after the conclusion of the 2026 Men’s and Women’s Final Fours.”
As things stand (prior to the ratification of this proposal), the portal window opens before the season ends. The recommended rule change to remedy this cannot become official NCAA policy until the Division-I Cabinet approves the legislation. That could happen as soon as this season if the Cabinet approves the move during their scheduled meeting in January.
The Insiders Forum: Discuss South Carolina basketball!
Currently, the transfer portal windows open after the end of the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It also remains open for 30 days. That would put the 2025-2026 window from March 23rd-April 21st (men’s) and March 24th-April 22nd (women’s).
If passed, the new legislation would shorten the portal windows from 30 days to 15 days. It would also shift it to April 6th-20th for the women and April 7th-21st for the men.
Top 10
- 1New
Expected Recruits
South Carolina vs. Clemson
- 2Trending
Analytics Corner
What key analytics metrics think
- 3
🥎 Softball Insider
Intel on position battles
- 4
Isaac Ellis explains decision
Why he reclassified and decommitted from South Carolina
- 5Hot
Beamer will be back
Shane Beamer will return as South Carolina football coach in 2026
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
The clearest benefit of the change is that teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament (or even the NIT or CBI) will not have to spend as much time on the transfer portal while still playing. Non-contributing players also, theoretically, wouldn’t leave NCAA Tournament teams early, as has been seen in recent years.
It is worth noting that the Oversight Committees also proposed a change to allow a five-day period following a coaching change in which players and coaches can meet, before a 15-day transfer window opens. If a coachless school goes 30 days without a hire, players would also get a 15-day transfer portal window. That would not apply for late-season coaching changes after January 1st. In those instances, players would have to wait until the proposed April window to notify their schools about a potential transfer.