NCAA votes to reduce transfer portal window from 60 to 45 days
The NCAA is shrinking its transfer portal windows.
The NCAA’s Division I Council approved changes Wednesday to reduce the transfer windows from 60 days down to a total of 45 days in all sports. The transfer windows mark the time during the year when athletes can put their name into the transfer portal in order to be contacted by other schools.
The exact dates of the transfer windows, which were implemented last year, will vary from sport to sport. In football, players previously had a 45-day window beginning the day after the College Football Playoff field was announced and then another 15-day window from April 15-30, coinciding with spring practice.
With this rules update, the window right after the conclusion of the season will last 30 days with a second 15-day window in the spring. The first window will begin the Monday after the FBS conference championship games (Dec. 4) and the second window will take place "during the second half of April."
For players who compete in the College Football Playoff, an additional five-day transfer window will be provided in January.
For college basketball, the portal opened the day after Selection Sunday (March 13 last year) and closed 60 days later, on May 11. Now that window, which will still open the Monday after Selection Sunday, will be reduced to 45 days.
"In both men's and women's basketball, the council determined that a 45-day window that concludes on or before May 1 best enables coaches to understand their current rosters, provides stability for student-athletes remaining at the school as they prepare for summer basketball, and encourages student-athletes who intend to transfer to do so before final exams at their current schools and summer school application deadlines at most campuses," Division I Council chair Lynda Tealer said.
Here are the updated transfer portal windows for all sports, via the NCAA:
Fall sports: 30 days in the fall, beginning seven days after a sport's championship selection, and 15 days in the spring (May 1-15).
Winter sports: 45 days, beginning seven days after championship selection.
Spring sports: 30 days in the spring, beginning seven days after a sport's championship selection, and 15 days in the fall (Dec. 1-15).
The Division I Council previously proposed reducing the transfer windows down to 30 days, citing data that showed the majority of athletes who enter the transfer portal do so within the first week of the transfer window opening. Per the NCAA, 61% of transfers entered the portal within the first 30 days.
After discussion with the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, the decision to instead make it 45 days was reached.
The change only affects when athletes can enter the portal; transfer commitments do not need to happen during these timeframes. Additionally, graduate students can still enter the transfer portal at any time.
