NCAA agrees to allow multi-time transfers to play for remainder of current school year
The NCAA on Friday reached an agreement with a group of seven state attorneys general, including North Carolina’s Josh Stein, that makes players sitting out under multiple-time transfer rules eligible for the rest of the school year.
The move comes after a federal judge in West Virginia, presiding over a lawsuit between the two groups over NCAA eligibility bylaws, had issued a temporary restraining order on Wednesday that was to be in effect until Dec. 27.
The West Virginia ruling allowed athletes, such as N.C. State basketball player Kam Woods, immediate eligibility, but left open the possibility he or the school could be punished if that order was ultimately reversed.
Friday’s agreement now eliminates that possibility by turning the temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.
“This is the best outcome for transfer student-athletes wishing to compete immediately,” the NCAA wrote in a letter sent to member schools on Friday. “This action provides clarity for student-athletes and member schools for the remainder of the academic year.”
Woods has yet to play this season for N.C. State after transferring from N.C. A&T. He began his college career at Troy in 2020-21 and played at Northwest Florida State Community College as a sophomore before averaging 17.3 points per game at N.C. A&T last season.
N.C. State asked the NCAA for a waiver granting Woods eligibility this season but it had yet to be granted. Friday’s agreement clears the way for Woods to play for the Wolfpack, who face Tennessee in San Antonio on Saturday night.
NCAA rules allow athletes transferring for the first time to compete immediately. But its rule concerning multi-time transfers has become especially controversial in recent months, with several high-profile cases gaining national attention.
That included North Carolina wide receiver Tez Walker, who attended N.C. Central and Kent State before transferring to UNC this year. The NCAA initially denied his eligibility waiver but a team of five Triangle-area attorneys fought on his behalf. Stein also became involved in Walker’s case and advocated for his eligibility.
After a public back-and-forth between UNC and the NCAA, Walker was granted eligibility in October and played in the Tar Heels’ final eight games.
Following all that, Stein joined attorneys general from six other states in suing the NCAA over its transfer rules. They argued the rules preventing multi-time transfers from playing immediately violated federal antitrust law in that it precludes college athletes from competing in an open market for their services.
Judge John Preston Bailey of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia agreed with them in issuing Wednesday’s Temporary Restraining Order
“Within the relevant markets,” Bailey wrote in his ruling, ”the Transfer Eligibility Rule harms student-athletes by discouraging them from freely seeking the most beneficial institution for their well-being, limiting their options after the decision to transfer is made, and denying them the benefits of NCAA competition for an entire academic year.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2023 at 7:31 PM with the headline "NCAA agrees to allow multi-time transfers to play for remainder of current school year."