Division I Council Introduces Proposals to Change Transfer Windows

The Division I Council voted Tuesday to introduce proposals that would change notification-of-transfer windows for undergraduate students in Division I men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football from a total of 45 days to 30 days. The decision to introduce the proposals is not final until the meeting concludes Wednesday.

Initially recommended by the Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees — and later supported by the Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision Oversight Committees — the basketball proposals would conclude the transfer window for basketball before the end of the academic school year, enabling student-athletes to spend more time in the recruitment process after being entered into the NCAA Transfer Portal, while also providing coaches with more information about roster stability before students leave campus at the end of the academic year. In football, the change in notification-of-transfer days would provide greater stability for football programs and student-athletes.

The majority of student-athletes enter the portal within the first four weeks of the window opening, according to data gathered over the first two years with transfer windows. For men’s and women’s basketball in 2023, 73% of undergraduate student-athletes on scholarship who transferred were entered into the portal during the first four weeks. That percentage increased to 82% in 2024 for men’s basketball and 86% for women’s basketball.

“In creating transfer windows a few year ago, NCAA schools identified that those windows might need to be adjusted over time as the transfer landscape evolved and we gained more information about student-athlete mobility,” said Josh Whitman, chair of the council and director of athletics at Illinois. “These proposals reflect ongoing evaluation and adaptation to transfer trends, and the data support that this adjustment would not meaningfully impact the great majority of transfer student-athletes in these sports. Introducing the proposals gives us an opportunity to hear from all key stakeholders as the environment continues to evolve.”

Under this proposal, student-athletes whose head coaches leave the school would continue to have an additional 30-day transfer window after a coach’s departure.

In basketball, notification-of-transfer windows would open for 30 days starting the day after the conclusion of the second round of the NCAA Division I championship — when 91% of teams have concluded their seasons — and will conclude before the end of April.

The FBS and FCS Oversight Committees will finalize a recommendation for Transfer Portal dates by October.

The council — which includes a voting representative from each of the 32 Division I conferences — will gather feedback from college sports stakeholders, including the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, in the coming months. A vote on the proposals is anticipated during the council’s October 2024 meeting.

–News release courtesy of NCAA PR ( NCAA.org )