Last year, the NCAA passed a rule allowing players to transfer and play for their team right away instead of sitting out a season. “If you transfer, you can transfer. You don't lose your scholarship. But you must sit out a year, because we can control that,” Barta said.
If you're a D1 baseball, basketball, football or men's ice hockey player, you'll likely need to be red-shirted due to NCAA transfer rules sit out one year. However, being red-shirted for that year is generally not required for athletes in other sports or in other divisions.
Athletes who switch schools will be immediately eligible to compete. The NCAA made it official Thursday, announcing the Division I Council had voted to approve a plan that will allow all college athletes to transfer one time as an undergraduate without having to sit out a season.
When do athletes have to sit out a year? Student-athletes have to sit out a year when they transfer to a Division I school for the second time. For instance, if a student-athlete has played at two Division I schools and decides to transfer again, they will have to sit out a year.
While you do not lose a year of eligibility athletically, all student-athletes who transfer are required to sit out for one full sports season of competition. You are allowed to attend practices and games, but you cannot participate until that year is over.
A transfer release is a document prepared by a student's institution that states the student is able to play immediately upon transferring to another school without having to sit the residency period.
Athletes transferring from an NAIA school to an NCAA Division 1 or Division 2 school will find that they have the strictest transfer rules. Because the transfer rules can be so complex, athletes need to work through their school's compliance office to make sure they check off all the required boxes.
The one-time transfer rule allows athletes to transfer to a different school one time during their career and play immediately without getting permission from their coach or school. Previously, athletes had to get permission from their current school and then sit out a year as a penalty for transferring.
When it was ratified in April, the NCAA's legislation allowing Division I athletes in any sport to transfer without sitting out a season or loss of eligibility, called One-Time Transfer Rule and hailed as a new era of freedom for college athletes.
A player going from D2 to D1 must sit out one season before becoming eligible unless he's a graduate transfer; a D1 transfer is immediately eligible in D2. One of the biggest D2-to-D1 success stories is Derrick White.
Beginning in the 2021-22 academic year, undergraduate athletes in all Division I sports can transfer once with immediate eligibility, as approved by the NCAA Division I Council on Thursday.
NCAA Division III Transfers
Division III student-athletes being recruited by another Division III school have the opportunity to release themselves. DIII athletes may complete a self-release form and send it to another DIII school. That release form allows the athlete to be recruited by the school for 30 days.
The transfer portal permits student athletes to place their name in an on-line database declaring their desire to transfer. Athletes enter the portal by informing their current school of their desire to transfer; the school then has two business days to enter the athletes' name in the database.
At a meeting this week in Indianapolis, the Division III Presidents Council approved a recommendation from the Division III Administrative Committee that the division's student-athletes be allowed — though not required — to use the portal beginning in the 2019-20 academic year.
Arkansas and LSU have the most players currently in the portal with five each.
Yes we get free gear, but it is nowhere near what big schools receive. We may get a few shirts along with uniform equipment but that is the extent of our clothing benefits. We do get to travel, but we are treated like every other student on campus, but professors tend to work with the athletes well.
It is certainly possible to go from JUCO to D1. Ziola-Vega recommends that student-athletes hoping for recruitment by a larger program look at D1 JUCOs; this is the most competitive of the NJCAA divisions, and the most likely to place students in NCAA schools down the line.
Transfer Rules
Have a written release from the athletic department at your most recent four-year college. Have a minimum 2.0 GPA from all previous colleges combined. Meet all additional academic requirements and any conference-specific requirements for transfers.
Typically, NCAA Division 1 teams have more sports and a larger American football or basketball team. Universities with fewer teams or without American football/basketball tend to be NCAA Division 2 or NAIA schools.
The well funded NAIA teams are much better than D3 as they should be. NAIA can offer 24 scholarships (Plus as many as they want for non varsity players or redshirts. Plus lower academic standards for athletes in NAIA allows helps NAIA get more D1 ability players.
Long-standing NCAA rules have in the past prevented athletes in these five sports from playing in their first year after transferring. However, under the NCAA's new transfer rule, athletes from all sports will be allowed to transfer once without being required to sit out their first year.
In Division I sports, student-athletes may transfer once to another four-year NCAA school and are eligible to compete immediately, provided they are academically eligible and the previous school does not object, without sitting out a year in residence.
The notification of transfer is almost immediate for everyone including coaches, other athletes, and media. However, entering the portal does not imply that the athlete will be leaving their current institution. It simply means they are exploring their options to transfer.
And, at the end of the day, it perfectly answers the question: no, there is no age limit to play sports in college.
The division terms that apply when transferring from a D3 or D2 school to a D1 institution occur if you're a baseball, basketball, football or men's ice hockey player. You'll likely need to sit out a year, something that wouldn't be required if you did a switch amongst D2 and D3 colleges.