The NCAA on Wednesday responded to a major court ruling that could significantly impact transfer eligibility.
West Virginia district court judge John P. Bailey on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order blocking the NCAA from enforcing its rules preventing players who have transferred more than once from receiving immediate eligibility. In essence, for at least the next 14 days, multi-transfer players will be allowed to play without sitting out a season.
A preliminary injunction hearing has been set for Dec. 27. Until then, the NCAA confirmed to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports that it will abide by the court’s ruling.
This does not provide much clarity going forward and is clearly not yet a permanent change in NCAA policy. The organization will hope that a full hearing results in the rule being upheld, which could make for a difficult decision for teams and players who would be affected by the change over the next 14 days.
Transfer rules and the granting of waivers regarding eligibility have resulted in some bad PR and sharp criticism of the NCAA recently. The issue is not going away, and in fact, the court decision could be the first step in the total elimination of eligibility cool-downs, which would make the transfer portal even more chaotic than it already is.
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