How can the NCAA fix the transfer epidemic? It’s easy, just let them play

The NCAA is trying to fix the side effects of the transfer portal, but the easiest solution is staring them in the face. Now they need to fix it once and for all.

The NCAA created the transfer portal and now they’re trying to “fix” it with new guidelines that will make it more difficult for student-athletes to gain instant eligibility. Try as hard as they might to fix things, the NCAA is being stubborn by overlooking the most simple solution to the transfer epidemic hitting college sports.

On Tuesday, the NCAA came up with new transfer guidelines that will make it more difficult for transfers to gain a waiver that will grant them instant eligibility at their new school. This is a form of punishment and meant to curtail players from seeking better opportunities on the field and from seeking better environments off the field.

The NCAA is trying to put a band-aid on a broken arm.

The best solution is often the simplest solution.

That’s why the NCAA needs to just let all transfers play.

Don’t make them sit a year.

Don’t make them hire a lawyer to gain eligibility.

Don’t make them transfer to a school within 100 miles of their home to be eligible.

The NCAA needs to avoid the ruling they handed Illinois transfer Luke Ford who is ineligible this fall after transferring from Georgia to be closer to his grandparents who are in failing health. Ford’s family is about 190 miles from Champaign, IL. If his family lived closer to Illinois, he would be eligible. Geography shouldn’t come into play. And student-athlete should not have to get the paperwork to prove he is the primary caregiver for a sick relative in order to play football.

Justin Fields transferred from Georgia and is eligible at Ohio State this fall after getting a waiver to play. The only people who think he should be forced to sit are Michigan fans. But those same fans were wholly in favor of Shea Patterson not having to sit after he transferred to Michigan from Ole Miss.

Tate Martell was allowed to transfer from Ohio State after Fields showed up and took the job he thought he won by default and is now eligible at Miami. Why? He hired a lawyer.

The NCAA should be about the players, but their track record isn’t very convincing of that.

Student-athletes aren’t being paid so why should they be held hostage at a school if they no longer wish to be there, or if the school no longer wishes to have them there?

It’s perfectly fine for coaches to jump from one job to the next because it’s classified as rising in the industry. That’s how it should be. It’s how the world works. Why can’t the same logic apply to the student-athlete?

There is a small window to playing college football and it’s closing every second. There is an expiration date five years after it begins. It’s even sooner for some. Why would the NCAA try to take away one year from the student-athlete who is only trying to better his opportunity?

Just let them play. It’s the easiest solution to the myriad problems and issues on the NCAA’s plate. If the NCAA won’t allow them to earn money, the least they can do is let them play.