From next season, the biggest university football and basketball players may switch once before studying, without having to put out a year of competition.
The NCAA Division I board voted Wednesday to change the long-standing rule that has deterred players in high sports from switching from school, two people with knowledge of the board’s decision told The Associated Press.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the two-day meeting was still ongoing and the council’s decisions would only become official before it would end on Thursday. The Athletic first reported the vote of the council.
The so-called one-time exception has been available for years to athletes in other NCAA sports, allowing them to transfer and play instantly. Athletes in soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s hockey and men’s baseball did not have it available without asking the NCAA for a special pardon, claiming a hardship needed the transfer.
Athletes who graduated were also allowed to switch without sitting out, regardless of the sport, but not undergraduate students.
From this fall semester, all athletes will work under the same rules: transfers may play immediately.
Those who are into fall and winter sports must notify their schools by May 1 that they plan to switch; in spring sports, the notice date will be July 1st. The notice dates start in 2022.
For this year, athletes in all sports must notify their schools of their intention to switch on July 1st.
The council also voted to expire the current deadlift period of recruitment in all sports. 1 June. A ban on personal recruitment has existed for more than a year due to the pandemic. Coaches will again be allowed to visit recruits off-campus, hold camps on campus and welcome prospective student-athletes on official recruitment visits.