NCAA adopting new rules that benefit players for once

Slow clap for the NCAA.

They are finally putting their money where their mouth is.

Sadly it took PR blunder after PR blunder for them to take a look in the mirror and realize they’re bylaws contradicted their mission statement. But, let’s not get lost in the weeds, it’s not about the means, it’s about the ends. At the end of the day, the fact is that the players are notching a big win with these impending rule changes.

Starting this season, football players can play in up to four games without losing a season of competition: https://t.co/oh4F4Qbxbn

— NCAA (@NCAA) June 13, 2018

Finally, a defined amount of games that constitute whether or not a player can get their season back. The NCAA has decided on 4 for football, but you can guess that this rule will carry over to basketball season as well where you can expect somewhere around the same. The number equates to 30% of the regular season games. This seems fair to us, but it really stings for guys like Terry Henderson (former Wolfpacker) who lost an entire season of eligibility after going down for the season only 7 minutes into the first game.

DI Council adopts proposal that allows student-athletes to transfer and receive a scholarship without asking their school for permission. The rule change goes into effect in October: https://t.co/2mr4oYBanG

— Inside the NCAA (@InsidetheNCAA) June 13, 2018

There are also some changes coming to the transfer rules. For now, the NCAA is adopting a rule that allows players to transfer without asking for a release. They also state in the article that they are looking at grad-transfer rules as well as overall transfer rules (likely focused on whether or not a player has to sit a full season after a transfer.)

We get that this is a very fine line. Get too loose with these rules and players will just be jumping ship the second they run into any tough situation. Part of playing college sports is learning how to deal with adversity and overcoming it, so loose transfer rules could deteriorate that in the eyes of some. However, these are just kids and they’re playing a sport they love. It’s wrong to catch them up in so much red tape and bureaucracy. We’re happy that the NCAA is moving towards giving players a little more power. Let’s see how it plays out and we can go from there.