NCAA Moves to Tighten Eligibility and Transfers as Federal Fix Stalls

Overview

• Charlie Baker told member schools the NCAA will act on its own as Division I leaders advance fresh limits on who can play and how athletes switch schools.
• The new steps include barring prospects who enter a pro draft from college play and punishing programs that use a ghost transfer, which is a move that skips the portal.
• Programs that field a ghost transfer would face a head‑coach suspension and a fine equal to 20% of that sport’s budget under the approved penalty plan.
• The NCAA is circulating an age‑based five‑year clock that would start after high school or a 19th birthday and would largely replace today’s case‑by‑case waivers.
• President Donald Trump’s April 3 executive order urges a five‑year cap on eligibility, a one‑time immediate transfer, and curbs on NIL collectives tied to federal funding, while Congress’s SCORE Act stalls and courts handle a surge of cases and waivers.