Ever-changing NCAA transfer rules and Minnesota athletes

• Under NCAA rules, athletes who transfer between schools typically must sit out one year before competing in football, men's and women's basketball, baseball and men's hockey. Former Gophers catcher Kendyl Lindaman could transfer to Florida and play immediately because softball is among the sports that don't have the year-in-residence rule.

• NCAA athletes long needed their school's permission to transfer. But a rule change, which started on Oct. 15, allows athletes to tell their school they're transferring, forcing the school to enter their name in a national transfer database, where other coaches are free to contact them. Lindaman is among several athletes who have used the portal to transfer.

• Reid Travis, a former Minneapolis DeLaSalle basketball standout, finished an undergraduate degree at Stanford, allowing him to play for Kentucky this season after transferring last summer. Travis is one of scores of NCAA graduate transfers, including recent Gophers players Akeem Springs and Brock Stull.

• Undergraduates also can transfer between schools and play immediately if the NCAA grants a waiver. Basketball player Marcus Carr switched from Pittsburgh to Minnesota, hoping to play immediately because of what he described as a "toxic environment" at Pitt. But the NCAA denied his waiver request, drawing criticism since it had granted many seemingly similar requests.

• Another notable Gophers transfer came last month, when Hugh McCutcheon's volleyball team landed Kylie Miller from UCLA. Volleyball players can transfer and play immediately just as they can in softball. Miller played three seasons as a setter for the Bruins and can step in immediately to help replace Samantha Seliger-Swenson, a four-time AVCA All-America setter.

Sources: NCAA.org, Informedathlete.com