D-I proposal would shrink portal window by half

Tom VanHaaren, ESPN Staff WriterJun 28, 2023, 06:01 PM ET
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- ESPN staff writer
- Joined ESPN in 2011
- Graduated from Central Michigan

The NCAA Division I Council proposed changes to the transfer period windows that would reduce the total number of days that student athletes can enter the transfer portal from 60 down to 30.

As it stands now, there is a transfer window in college football that starts the day after the College Football Playoff teams are announced, which was Dec. 4 in 2022, and is open for 45 days. Another transfer window is open in the spring from April 15 to April 30.

For winter sports, there is a 60-day window that begins with a given sport’s championship selection and there is a 45-day window for spring sports that begins with that sport’s championship selection, as well.

The transfer windows were created this past year to limit the timeframe for which athletes can transfer from school to school.

Undergraduate student-athletes must enter their name in the transfer portal during those windows to be granted immediate eligibility at their next school of choice. They are not required to transfer within those dates, as long as their name is entered prior to the closing of the respective transfer window.

A total of 2,224 Division I football players entered the transfer portal this past winter and 1,373 entered in the spring. The Council says in its release that they have data from this past year that indicates most student-athletes enter the portal at the beginning of the transfer window.

With the proposal, oversight committees and the Division I Student Athlete Advisory Committee will gather additional feedback and offer possible amendments this summer. The Council will then consider a final vote during its October meeting.