The Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) announced on Monday its support to allow student-athletes in all sports to transfer once without having to sit out a year of competition, joining the Big Ten’s recommendation to amend the NCAA rules.

Under current NCAA regulations, student-athletes of the following sports:

• Football
• Men’s Basketball
• Women’s Basketball
• Baseball
• Men’s Ice Hockey

…with the intention of transferring must sit out one season unless they graduate from their original institution or obtain permission from the NCAA. Student-athletes in other sports are free to transfer without the mandatory season of ineligibility.

Essentially, this rules change results in more of a level playing field among student-athletes.

ACC and Big Ten’s Transfer Rules Plan

The current transfer rule is unethical. In addition to the rule not affecting every sports, it’s a prime example of how the NCAA wants to have control over everything, even if it’s not in the best interest of coaches, players and fans.

It seems like the NCAA is concerned with all the wrong things with this rule. Intentions of preventing coaches from stacking benches means nothing when it’s hurting the player. If they’re still concerned about team stacking, they could limit transfers to the offseason. Similar to free agency with any big league sport, set aside a reserved time frame for transfer portals. You can’t enter the portal unless it’s in the allotted timeframe.

As of now, when a player transfers, they automatically lose a year of development — yes, players are still developing, as improvements to coaching and surrounding is development, and nothing is preventing them from going to the gym and throwing up shots. But it’s nearly impossible to replicate the speed of college sports. I don’t think there’s much you can do independently to prepare yourself for a game, whether it be physically or mentally.

What happened to “Student-Athletes are Students First”…

If that’s the case, award student-athletes the same freedoms. There’s no transfer portal for students unhappy with their environment. Don’t like the campus? Transfer. Don’t like the education? Transfer. Too far from home? Transfer. Athlete transferring to be closer to sick family member? Sorry, you’re out of luck.

Student-athletes deserve that same respect, especially considering they’re the ones bringing in the big bucks to their schools and the NCAA.