INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Division 1 Council approved narrowing the window for football and basketball players to enter the transfer portal and retain eligibility the following season from 60 to 45 days on Wednesday.
The windows were put into place last year, and the timing of these windows varies sport-by-sport. For football there is a 45-day window starting in December after the regular season, and a second window in the spring. The first window is shrinking to 30 days.
Basketball's window opens the day after Selection Sunday and will be 45 days long, despite support for a 30 day window from coaches across the NCAA.
The council met for two days of meetings in Indianapolis to discuss transfer windows as well as approving proposals to regulate name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation for student-athletes, which recommends stricter penalties for individuals who commit rule violations.
The transfer portal has been a source of much discussion since it's implementation a few years ago, with thousands of student-athletes switching schools every offseason - a practice that has alienated coaches and many fans who are used to seeing student-athletes stick around for multiple years.
A shorter window to enter the portal should help alleviate this issue, although the NCAA will have to enforce penalties and deny waivers if they want to limit the number of transfers in a meaningful way.
Graduate transfers will continue to have more flexibility, with a deadline to enter the transfer portal of May 1 for fall sports and July 1 for spring sports.