NCAA expected to grant penalty-free, one-time transfer rule in 2021

[Professor]

The penalty-free, one-time immediate transfer rule is expected to pass in January and go into effect starting Aug. 1, 2021.
In official documents obtained by Pat Forde and Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated (https://www.si.com/college/2020/10/13/ncaa-proposal-transfer-immediate-eligibility), the NCAA Working Group on Transfers has submitted a proposal to the Division I Council that will allow student-athletes a one-time transfer without sitting out a season, with fall and winter sport athletes needing to notify their schools of a transfer by May 1.

https://kentuckysportsradio.com/basketball-2/ncaa-expected-to-grant-penalty-free-one-time-transfer-rule-in-2021/

[Schism55]

This is how it should be, but this is not great for the FCS...

[Professor Chaos]

This is how it should be, but this is not great for the FCS...
Yep and yep.

There's still the same amount of FBS scholarships available so we'll still see plenty of FBS->FCS transfers but I bet there will be a lot less P5->FCS transfers. Might see more D2->FCS movement now also as standouts at that level look to climb the ranks of competition.

[Mocs123]

This is terrible for FCS FB and Mid Major BB. If Steph Curry had transferred you wouldn't have had Davidson going to the elite 8. If Armanti Edwards had transferred you wouldn't have had App's 3 peat.

[BisonTru]

This is how it should be, but this is not great for the FCS...

Agree. This would have been perfect for Lance.

[NY Crusader 2010]

This rule will most greatly affect mid-major NCAA basketball, where just the grad transfer loophole has created a major uptick in transfers. By allowing a free transfer for undergrads, you essentially make every impact freshman in low-to-mid Division I a potential recruit for power schools.

The biggest way this will affect FCS IMO is not necessarily FCS => FBS move-ups but more so the guys that in the past transferred down to FCS from P5 because they didn't want to sit out a year in order to transfer to a G5 instead.

I didn't realize this until a few years ago but apparently the whole sitting out a year rule only applies to a handful of sports. In most sports, you were already able to transfer without sitting out.

One thing about football specifically -- when it comes to getting drafted, so much lies on pro days and the combine that it's almost unnecessary in a lot of cases to transfer up. Did Carson Wentz need to transfer up to get drafted #1 overall? No. There might be more risk in transferring up in a lot of cases, particularly at QB, because if you move up and end up not starting, you're on the bench and not doing anything to improve your stock. On the contrary, in basketball, NBA teams are far less likely to draft guys out of small schools because it's harder to gauge how their skill set translates to a higher level of competition.

[BisonTru]

This rule will most greatly affect mid-major NCAA basketball, where just the grad transfer loophole has created a major uptick in transfers. By allowing a free transfer for undergrads, you essentially make every impact freshman in low-to-mid Division I a potential recruit for power schools.

The biggest way this will affect FCS IMO is not necessarily FCS => FBS move-ups but more so the guys that in the past transferred down to FCS from P5 because they didn't want to sit out a year in order to transfer to a G5 instead.

I didn't realize this until a few years ago but apparently the whole sitting out a year rule only applies to a handful of sports. In most sports, you were already able to transfer without sitting out.

One thing about football specifically -- when it comes to getting drafted, so much lies on pro days and the combine that it's almost unnecessary in a lot of cases to transfer up. Did Carson Wentz need to transfer up to get drafted #1 overall? No. There might be more risk in transferring up in a lot of cases, particularly at QB, because if you move up and end up not starting, you're on the bench and not doing anything to improve your stock. On the contrary, in basketball, NBA teams are far less likely to draft guys out of small schools because it's harder to gauge how their skill set translates to a higher level of competition.

Lance doesn't need the stepping stone for draft stock, imo. It would be a good stepping stone for his development as a quarterback.