New NCAA Rules Could Change Recruiting, Transfers

The NCAA rules have been something that have been criticized on many different levels, but it looks like the NCAA is going to work to try and change some of these rules that people dislike so much. There have already been proposals to change things like kickoffs, but now the NCAA could change the rules on recruiting and players transferring.

The working group wrote that transfers could play immediately if leaving a school doesn't affect progress toward graduation, but noted that current transfer limits could be included in a new bylaw. Football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey currently have the most restrictive transfer rules, although waivers are sometimes granted for graduates.

Currently, if a player decides to transfer they must sit out a full season unless they transfer to a lower division of football or unless they've already graduated (I.E. Russell Wilson going from N.C. State to Wisconsin). This topic has been widely debated, as some are afraid of it turning into "free agency" while others point out the fact that players get the short end of the stick when they commit to a school and the coaching staff leaves for another job.

Another interesting topic that is already employed by some schools is the idea of athletic dorms.

Another topic up for discussion is athletic dorms. Once enormously popular, especially in the South as Bear Bryant mastered the concept at Alabama, athletic dorms were banned in 1991 when the NCAA adopted a rule to phase them out by 1996.

While the athletic dorms were phased out by the NCAA, it looks like they are willing to bring them back on. The group wants the NCAA to eliminate those restrictions and allow the schools to establish their own rules on housing athletes.

Most of the rule changes deal with the area of recruiting, however. One of the big areas of concern is allowing coaches to publicly speak about unsigned recruits, whereas this was previously a violation of NCAA rules. The group is also looking into a few other things, like limiting the amount of off-campus recruiters at one time and letting schools have earlier access to recruits.