The article does a good job of laying out the pros and cons, and I agree it probably won't work from a legal standpoint. But it's an idea that has some promise because anything is better than the current environment where athletes are transferring willy nilly.
Colorado is really positioning itself as the test case for the Portal/NIL era:
From an article in the Athletic about the CU situation, I didn't know this change was coming. The first paragraph especially seems signifcant:
The NCAA has made it much tougher for underclassmen to gain immediate eligibility on their second transfer. In recent years, it was easy to get a waiver by citing no participation opportunity (NPO) at your previous school. That won’t work anymore. Obtaining that eligibility waiver now requires documented issues of mental health, assault, discrimination or disability. Undergraduate transfers joining Colorado have two options if they need to transfer again: Get their degree first or sit out a year in residence.
There’s a potentially greater issue coming soon. The NCAA is concerned enough about the graduation rate of transfers that they want to hold schools accountable. Starting this year, the undergraduate transfers Sanders signs will have their financial aid guaranteed for their full five-year period of eligibility and count against Colorado’s 85-man scholarship limit until they graduate or go pro.
There are ways to get around that if the player transfers again or is medically disqualified, but recruiting staffers recognize they must be careful when taking transfers who aren’t close to graduating.
Colorado is really positioning itself as the test case for the Portal/NIL era:
From an article in the Athletic about the CU situation, I didn't know this change was coming. The first paragraph especially seems signifcant:
The NCAA has made it much tougher for underclassmen to gain immediate eligibility on their second transfer. In recent years, it was easy to get a waiver by citing no participation opportunity (NPO) at your previous school. That won’t work anymore. Obtaining that eligibility waiver now requires documented issues of mental health, assault, discrimination or disability. Undergraduate transfers joining Colorado have two options if they need to transfer again: Get their degree first or sit out a year in residence.
There’s a potentially greater issue coming soon. The NCAA is concerned enough about the graduation rate of transfers that they want to hold schools accountable. Starting this year, the undergraduate transfers Sanders signs will have their financial aid guaranteed for their full five-year period of eligibility and count against Colorado’s 85-man scholarship limit until they graduate or go pro.
There are ways to get around that if the player transfers again or is medically disqualified, but recruiting staffers recognize they must be careful when taking transfers who aren’t close to graduating.
I had heard about the first paragraph. NC State lost a player from the woman's team who had already transferred in to NC State so there was discussion about her having to sit out a year because of the second transfer.
Hopefully this resets the transfer market and slows things down over the next few years because what we've seen the last couple of years is not sustainable.