SIMPLIFYING THE TRANSFER RULE
• The NCAA is considering a change that would allow athletes to compete in any sport and at any level immediately after transferring if their GPA is 2.6 or above. For now, athletes who transfer have to sit out for one year if they play football, basketball, baseball or men's hockey.
• According to the NCAA, 6.4 percent of Division I athletes transferred from one four-year school to another during the 2010-2011 school year, including 969 in football, 445 in men's basketball, 364 in women's basketball and 200 in baseball. Those numbers have been fairly steady for a decade.
• Last May, NCAA President Mark Emmert called for a deeper study of the transfer rules. In one case, Wisconsin men's basketball coach Bo Ryan denied Jarrod Uthoff permission to contact numerous schools about transferring, including the rest of the Big Ten and the ACC. Ryan eventually relented and Uthoff transferred to Iowa, where he is sitting out this season. Northeast Conference Commissioner Noreen Morris, who chairs the NCAA's Leadership Council, said the council is examining the permission-to-contact rule. Coaches eventually could have less ability to block transfers.
• There's a loophole in the rule. Athletes with eligibility remaining who have earned an undergraduate degree can transfer to another school and compete immediately if they are pursuing a graduate degree in a program not offered by the original school. This helped Wisconsin get QB Russell Wilson from North Carolina State before the 2011 football season, and he eventually led the Badgers to the Rose Bowl.
JOE CHRISTENSEN
