How Do You Transfer from a NCAA D2 Basketball Program? Here’s how it works …

Sometimes you get into a situation that may not be what you anticipated it to be. Maybe something out of your control happened and you have to make a move. If you find yourself in in this kind of predicament and you are now looking to transfer from a D2 school – this article should help clarify what exactly this entails and how you should go about starting the process from transferring from a 4 year school to another 4 year school.

The decision to transfer to another school involves important and sometimes difficult choices. You need to make sure you understand the rules, the options and the potential consequences of your decision. You do not want to risk your education or your chance to play NCAA basketball.

NOTE: Graduation success rates among the different divisions are: 88% in Division I, 73% in Division II and 87% in Division III. The percentage of men’s basketball players who go on to have professional basketball careers is approximately 1.2% (ncaa.org)

Before you transfer, you need as much information as possible. Talking to key people, such as your coach or athletics compliance officer, can help you successfully work through the process so take advantage of all the information available to you!

Before you do anything else, you need to answer and follow these steps to understand how the transfer rules apply to your situation and to make sure you do everything necessary and correctly:

1. Are you definitely eligible to be a transfer student-athlete?
2. Which school are you going to go to?
3. Do you fully understand your initial-eligibility status?
4. Make sure you have registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center (if needed)
5. Have you asked your current school for a permission-to-contact letter?

What is the first step to transferring?

You need to know and understand the process, first and foremost. A good way to do this is to talk to the coaching staff at your current school. You can even approach the other staff members in the athletics department or compliance office. They probably have a lot of knowledge and experience in assisting other student athletes who have transferred before.

You will also need to contact the admissions department of the school you are looking to transfer to. You are allowed to apply to the admissions department without notifying the athletics department at the school you are transferring from.

NOTE: Meeting the NCAA transfer rules does not guarantee you will be admitted to a new school. You need to meet the school’s admission requirements which include academic standards, before you can play.

Are you eligible to transfer?

To determine if you are a transfer student athlete, you need to see if you have met any of the conditions called “transfer triggers”. If you answer “yes” to any of the below questions, you are likely to be
a transfer student-athlete. On the other hand, if you answer “no” to all these questions, you’ll probably not be considered a transfer student-athlete and the transfer rules may not apply to you.

1. Have you been a full-time student at a two- or four-year college during a regular academic term? Classes taken during summer terms do not count.
2. Have you practiced with a college team?
3. Have you practiced or competed while enrolled as a part-time student?
4. Have you received athletically related financial aid from a college while attending summer school?

Whats your initial-eligibility status?

Your initial-eligibility status determines which transfer rules apply to you and how many seasons of
competition you may have remaining to play at your new school.

If you registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center as a high school student and your first college enrollment was at a Division 2 school, the NCAA Eligibility Center assigned you an initial-eligibility status. The NCAA Eligibility Center determined your initial-eligibility status based on the core courses you took in high school, the grades and number of credits you earned in those courses and your scores on standardized tests. If you do not have an initial-eligibility status, you need to talk to the athletics compliance office at your new school.

Now that you know you are a transfer student athlete, the next step is to decide which school you want to attend. When thinking about new schools, you should keep in mind that academics are just as important as athletics and your new school should help you meet all your goals not just your athletic ones.

IMPORTANT TIP: In some cases, conference transfer rules can be more restrictive than NCAA rules. Make sure you looking into the conference and know before you make a move. EXAMPLE: some conferences may differ on how long you must attend a new school before you may compete.

When can I contact new schools & speak with their Athletics Staff about transferring?

Another NCAA school cannot recruit you (directly or indirectly) until you follow the division 2-specific steps on notification of transfer. You should only consider requesting notification of transfer when you
are ready to begin the process.

NOTE: Your playing time, roster spot and/or athletics aid may be impacted as a result of beginning the transfer process. It is advisable to consider consulting with your coaching staff, compliance staff and director of athletics throughout the process.

You can write to a new school to let them know you are interested in transferring, but the new school cannot discuss transfer opportunities with you until they can verify notification of transfer is validated and your information is entered in the national transfer portal. You can speak with other departments (admissions, registrar and financial aid office) outside of athletics at a new school at any time.

NOTE: Once notification of transfer has been completed and all your information has been entered in the national transfer portal, all the usual NCAA Recruiting Rules will continue to apply: tryout rules, official visit rules, recruiting calendars, etc.

What is the Notification of Transfer for a D2 School?

NCAA Division 2 Bylaw 13.1.1.2 states that a student athlete must request notification of transfer with their compliance office before having any direct or indirect recruiting with a new NCAA school.

The Notification of Transfer gives student athletes more control over the decision to transfer.
It prohibits the current school from blocking a student athlete from getting athletics aid at the receiving school. Other notable points to the notification of Transfer:

• Creates a transfer portal to identify student athletes who have notified their school of transfer which streamlines the process
• It strengthens ethical recruiting with guardrails around tampering by helping coaches and student athletes manage instances when they are contacted about potential transfer

If you have your notification of transfer in place and your information is entered into the transfer portal, your new NCAA school will need to certify you meet all applicable NCAA, school and conference transfer requirements. Additional NCAA, school or conference transfer rules and academic progress rules may need to be considered and you should consult with your compliance officer on campus to learn more about your specific situation.

TIP: You can ask the compliance office to determine if you are eligible prior to arriving at your new school.

Transferring from an NCAA Division 2 school Process:

Upon request, your compliance office has seven business days to enter your contact information into the NCAA transfer portal. Please be aware that implications may arise, including but not limited to, access to athletics facilities, roster spot and playing time. Since Division 2 financial aid awards include a one-year period of award, your Division 2 school may decide not to renew your athletics aid agreement at the end of the academic year. Also not that being placed in this notification-to-transfer portal does not indicate you are eligible at the new NCAA school you transfer to. It is up to the compliance office at your new school. They will still need to certify both your transfer and remaining eligibility.

When can I play once I have transferred?

Generally speaking, the majority of student athletes will need to spend one academic year at your new
school as a full-time student before becoming eligible to compete. So if you transfer you won’t be able to play straight away. This time is called “an academic year of residence“. Student athletes who must sit out for a year at their new school can practice with their new team and receive an athletics scholarship if they were academically eligible when they left their previous school.

Things you have to do to make your academic year of residence count:
For your academic year of residence to count, you must attend classes only at the school where you plan to compete and you must be a full-time student (at least 12 credit hours). You cannot meet this requirement by attending your new school part time or by not attending school at all. Each school determines its own full-time status, so check with the athletics compliance office at your new school to find out how many credit hours you need to take. For a semester or quarter to count toward your academic year of residence, you must enroll before the 12th day of class of that academic term.

Reasons student athletes CANNOT use an exemption:

If you were a partial qualifier or a non-qualifier and decide to transfer during your first year, you must spend at least one academic year of residence before you can use a transfer exception.

If you signed a National Letter of Intent (NLI) and transfer during your first year as a full-time college
student, you may not be able to compete at your new school for a certain period of time.

You may not use an exception if you are currently completing an academic year of residence at the school
you are transferring from.

If you are a basketball student athlete meeting a transfer exception but are transferring to a Division 1 school at the start of winter or spring term. The earliest you would be eligible to compete would be
the following fall term.

What are the transfer Exceptions for D2 Schools?

Some student athletes may use an exemption to compete immediately after they transfer. To be able to do this you must meet the following criteria:

• This is your first transfer
• You receive a transfer-release agreement or waiver from your previous four-year school.
• You are a non-recruited or non scholarship
• If your current school drops it’s basketball program
• You return to your first school without participating in basketball at your second school
• You have not participated in basketball for 2 years

A transfer exception allows you to practice, compete or receive an athletics scholarship during
your first year at your new school. Your new school will decide if you qualify for a transfer exception.

NOTE: A waiver is an action that sets aside an NCAA rule because a specific, extraordinary circumstance prevents you from meeting the rule. An NCAA school may file a waiver on your behalf; you cannot file a waiver for yourself. The school does not administer the waiver it is the conference office or NCAA does.