How Does the Court Ruling Favor Two-Time NCAA Transfers?

A potential change could be coming to the NCAA world as new rules replace the old, thanks to a West Virginia judge. On Wednesday, Judge John P. Bailey granted a temporary 14-day restraining order allowing multiple-transfer college players instant eligibility to play at least for the next two weeks. 

Following the temporary restraining order, the NCAA has started to notify schools which two-time transfers can play immediately after joining their new team. But what was the reason that this new rule suddenly came into effect? It all started with West Virginia men’s basketball. See below. 

A new change to the NCAA ‘year in residency’ rule

The NCAA has complied with the order from the court to allow two-time college athlete transfers to play immediately. In a recent statement, the NCAA declared their cooperation with the court’s ruling. It reads, “As a result of today’s decision impacting Division I student-athletes, the association will not enforce the year in residency requirement for multiple-time transfers and will begin notifying member schools.” 

This is not a permanent NCAA transfer policy change, however, as it’s only a 14-day ruling without future forecasting. They stated that the need to sit out the first year upon their transfer violated antitrust law. The change in the NCAA transfer policy applies to all college sports across the nation. Currently, this tweak in the system is comparatively beneficial for active transfers for winter college basketball.

What facilitated the change in the NCAA ‘year in residency’ rule?

The NCAA denial of the waiver proposed by West Virginia basketball player RaeQuan Battle seeking eligibility didn’t end well. A Montana State transfer, Battle applied for a waiver under the NCAA’s mental-health provision, but was denied in October. 

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And it’s not just Battle and West Virginia that are not happy with the NCAA’s transfer policy. The lawsuit was filed by the AGs of different states aside from West Virginia, including Ohio, Colorado, New York, Illinois, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Among all states, Ohio is leading this change with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost stating that the ‘year in residency’ rule denied the waivers of at least 99 athletes to compete after their transfer.

While the new rule positively impacts Battle’s odds of participating in the Winter Games, further hearing is awaited. A second hearing will take place once the 14-day restraining order expires. Do you think this new rule would act as a boon to college athletes joining a new program? Let us know your thoughts. 

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