Will the NCAA Division l transfer portal be cataclysmic? Or is that we are in a new era/new thinking/new who knows?
Let’s define what is known about the idea of a transfer portal. When a student-athlete signs his/her letter of intent to attend a Division I school and then wants to change schools, he/she must register that intent on the “transfer portal” list. This is a site where not only can student-athletes inform other Division I schools of their intent but it also notifies school compliance officers and other athletic personnel of that student-athletes intention. At this writing, it does not apply to Division II schools, but it looks like that is on the horizon.
Further, the NCAA, particularly Division I have been under “fire” about its position for denial of NIL (Name, Image and/or Likeness) of student-athletes receiving financial remunerations. The Supreme Court has now stepped in to allow student-athletes (yes, they still carry that label) to get paid for the use of their NIL. It’s too early in that “game” to determine its abuse but it’s likely to happen.
In 2018, the NCAA Division I changed its policy on a student-athlete transferring from one Division I school to another Division I school and being able to compete immediately. Up to 2018, athletes transferring had to sit out a year. Or, in some cases, transfer to a community college for one year then go on to their newly chosen Division I school and were able to compete immediately. Now that one-year “wait” time has been eliminated except for football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, and men’s ice hockey. Why the exception for those sports? It appears those five attract illegal recruiting more often. Stay tuned.
The concern here is that some sports agents, seeing the amount of money “on-the-table” find ways, legally or illegally, to maneuver around established rules to get their hands on athletes making good money. As an example of that maneuvering, one of those was the recent subject of “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.” Some agents were attracting foreign baseball players (mostly from the Dominican Republic) offering them large sums of money right now but contracting with them for a lifetime guaranteed percentage of their upcoming multi-million-dollar contract. This is legal. But ethical?
While many agree that athletes deserve a “piece of the pie,” there need to be safeguards put in place!
Will you log-in on how to protect student-athletes from unprincipled agents’ illegal maneuvering?
