The Transfer Portal Paradox: Why Only Athletes?

The Current State of NCAA Transfer Policies

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Student-athletes in each NCAA sport now have a specific window when they can transfer. And nowadays, they can transfer one time without having to serve their year in residence (aka sit out a season redshirting).

These policies were enacted by the NCAA to give players back control over their rights, to allow people to enjoy their own freedom of movement and control their own destinies. Sort of.

NCAA student-athletes still can’t transfer a second time. What if you had to move closer to home to help a sick family member? What if your head coach left after the transfer portal window had already closed? What if you underwent hazing or some sort of emotional abuse? Waivers that reflect these experiences have been denied all over the country this summer.

What about if the school at which you enrolled changed conferences? Surely that waiver would be denied too.

The Double Standards: Conferences and Coaches vs. Athletes

Said college basketball analyst and former Duke star Jay Bilas on Twitter four days ago: “This is interesting. Forget injuries and the NCAA changing rules after a transfer…what if USC players simply don’t want to play in the Big Ten? Isn’t such a material change in an athlete’s life worthy of a transfer? To the NCAA, it’s not. Go where you’re told, and play for free.”

Bilas’ rant leads to some great questions. Why aren’t college conferences subject to the same sort of transfer portal rules that student-athletes (i.e., actual human beings) are? Why doesn’t the NCAA impose deadlines on the schools to declare their intent to leave? If a Division 1 football player has to enter the portal by, let’s say, April 30, shouldn’t Arizona/Arizona State/Colorado/Oregon/Utah/Washington/etc… have had to declare their intentions by that same date?

Towards a More Equitable NCAA: Potential Solutions

And why doesn’t that same rule apply to coaches? It is definitely an argument that has been beaten to death – but one worth making again. Why is a 21-year-old’s rights so much less valuable than a 60-year-old coach’s rights? Or so much less than a non-living entity like a conference?

NCAA, you’re circling the drain. We know you feel it. With whatever time you have left, do the right thing. If you’re going to give athletes specific windows when they can and cannot go places, levy those same restrictions onto college coaches and college conferences. When a season ends, give coaches freedom of movement for 45 days (if they leave a program on day 44, give that school where the new vacancy is another 14-day extension).

Or – just grant blanket waivers any time there is a coaching change or a conference change. It’s not your life or your sick family member or your cross-country trips that precede your 7 am class that next morning – but if it were, you’d probably be grateful for a little empathy.