NCAA memo opens door for two-time transfers to immediately play 2024 season

In a memo distributed to schools by the NCAA on Thursday, multi-time transfers who enter the transfer portal this fall or winter will be eligible to play at a new school in the 2024-25 academic year without securing a waiver.

The memo covers the multi-time transfer situation in question No. 3 of the NCAA’s guidance, stating that “as long as the undergraduate student-athlete transfers to another Division I institution during the 2023-24 academic year, the student-athlete will not be subject to Bylaw 14.5.5.1 during the 2024-25 academic year.”

Bylaw 14.5.5.1 states athletes who are transferring a second time or more are required to sit a year before being eligible. According to the guidance, however, this would all be subject to “any academic eligibility standards required for competition that may be developed or modified for the 2024-25 academic year.”

The guidance circles around a lawsuit in West Virginia against the NCAA’s transfer waiver policy. The NCAA agreed to terms on a preliminary injunction last Friday, which lasts through the end of the spring sports season.

The federal lawsuit alleges that the NCAA’s second-time transfer rule violates antitrust law. The rule “unjustifiably restrains the ability of these college athletes to engage in the market for their labor as NCAA Division I college athletes,” the complaint states. 

Per current rules, the NCAA permits underclassmen to transfer one time without having to sit out a year. If an underclassman wishes to transfer a second time, the student-athlete usually needs the NCAA to grant a waiver to compete immediately. Absent an approved waiver, the athlete has to sit out a year. 

In the guidance released this week, however, fall athletes can transfer and play immediately in 2024 without having to secure a waiver. An NCAA spokesperson said that academic standards and transfer portal requirements are expected to be reviewed at the NCAA Convention in Phoenix next month.