New NCAA transfer rules give wrestlers upper hand

NCAA Division I wrestlers will now be able to transfer without the permission of their current coach or university, thanks to new rules approved by the NCAA this week, to go into effect Oct. 15.

The NCAA Division I Council approved a proposal that installs a "notification of transfer" model which not only allows wrestlers and other athletes to leave one school for another more easily, but also requires the school to enter the athlete's name in a national transfer database within two business days.

Once the wrestler's name is in the database, any coach can contact that wrestler. Prior to this rule change, wrestlers had to receive permission from their current school to be contacted by another school before they could receive another scholarship.

One major exception to this new rule: a conference can install stricter rules that would supersede this new NCAA procedure.

In its press statement issued this week, the NCAA addressed the reason why the new transfer rule has been put in place.

"The previous transfer rule, which required student-athletes to get permission from their current school to contact another school before they can receive a scholarship after transfer, was intended to discourage coaches from recruiting student-athletes from other Division I schools," according to the NCAA statement. "The rule change ends the controversial practice in which some coaches or administrators would prevent students from having contact with specific schools…"

"Additionally, the proposal adds tampering with a current student-athlete at another school to the list of potential Level 2 violations, considered a significant breach of conduct."