Wednesday was a big day for the NCAA and student-athletes as the association announced several reform measures that received near universal applause with the biggest reform dealing with student-athlete transfers.
TRANSFER REFORM
Beginning this October student-athletes will no longer be required to ask for permission to transfer. Under the new rules, student-athletes will have to notify the institution of their desire to transfer. Upon the notification, the institution will then have two business days to add the student-athletes name to a national transfer database. Once the student-athlete has been added to the database other coaches will be able to contact the transferring party.
Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, student-athletes were required to get permission from their current institution to contact another school.
In addition to announcing the new changes regarding transfers, the Division I Council also announced that tampering with current student-athletes at another institution will now be considered a Level II violation.
FOOTBALL REDSHIRT REFORM
The NCAA also announced on Wednesday that football student-athletes at both the FBS and FCS level will now be able to participate in up to four contests without losing a season of eligibility. Student-athletes will still have five years to play four.
The new redshirt rules will go into effect beginning with the 2018 season.
BOWL COMMITMENT
The Division I Football Oversight Committee will now use a four-year average of historical bowl eligibility data to determine the number of bowl agreements each FBS conference may contract for the bowl cycle running from 2020-21 to 2025-26. Should bowls not have enough teams with 6 wins or better, allowing teams with a 5-7 to fill in will still be permitted.
The redshirt reform along with the new transfer regulations are seen by many as a step in the right direction, but the announcements have left many wondering what’s next? Will the NCAA take meaningful steps when it comes to student-athlete compensation and if so is there a timeline?
Cost of attendance was the first step, but could student-athletes one day receive compensation for image and likeness? More athletic leaders believe that could be a possibility but when and what that looks like remains up for debate.