New NCAA Rule Spells End for Transfer Portal’s “Wild West”

The transfer portal has been a huge story in collegiate sports as of late. Recently, the NCAA has been extremely lax with the requirements for athletes to obtain eligibility waivers, which allow them to transfer schools without having to sit out a year. Many believe the light requirements allow players to transfer too easily and too often.

The NCAA has acknowledged these concerns, and it looks like they have at least started to make some changes for the 2023-24 academic year.

The new waiver requirements specify that the only way a player could receive a waiver for a second transfer would be for physical or mental health conditions or other "exigent" circumstances (i.e. those unrelated to athletics like being a victim of abuse or assault).

This is one of the best possible changes that could be made. Collegiate athletes transfer for any number of reasons, many of which extend far beyond the sport they play. Making it too difficult to transfer would be an unfair weight for some players.

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But this prevents athletes from just entering the portal for trivial reasons like playing time or to play for a larger-market school.

Most fans are happy with this new ruling, which should significantly slow down the "Wild West" of the transfer portal in its current state.