For Syracuse basketball and its peers around the country, the transfer portal window for this spring and beyond is undergoing a sizable change.
Per a release from the NCAA, the Division I Cabinet has approved a 15-day transfer portal window in men’s and women’s basketball that, moving forward, will begin the day after the championship game of the NCAA Tournaments.
This change is effective immediately, the NCAA says.
According to the media statement, if there is a head coaching change, a 15-day transfer portal window will open five days after the new head coach is hired or announced in the public domain.
Should a new head coach not be announced within 30 days of the prior head coach’s departure, and the window has already closed, a 15-day transfer portal window will open on the 31st day for that particular school after the head coach’s departure.
Syracuse basketball is experiencing a massive change to the transfer portal window.
Per the NCAA release, “midyear transfers are not eligible to compete at a second school if they enrolled at an NCAA school during the first academic term, regardless of whether they competed there.”
According to an ESPN report, the spring transfer portal window will open in men’s basketball from April 7 to April 21, and in women’s hoops from April 6 to April 20.
Previously, this transfer portal window opened for 30 days and commenced after the NCAA Tournament’s second round in both men’s and women’s basketball.
So the NCAA has decided to both shorten the spring transfer portal window and move back when this window first opens.
It is completely logical for the transfer portal window to not open until after the Big Dance on the men’s and women’s sides has wrapped up. Frankly, for the window to have been open while March Madness was still transpiring made no sense whatsoever.
Per ESPN, this is the fourth change to the transfer portal window since the 2022-23 academic year. It was 60 days, then 45 days, cut to 30 days and now trimmed to 15 days.
There’s absolutely no reason why a transfer portal window in college basketball, or any other sport, needs to be open for more than 15 days. Athletes know if they want to transfer or not, and 15 days is completely reasonable.