The NCAA is shrinking its transfer portal windows.
The NCAA’s Division I Council approved changes Wednesday to reduce the transfer windows down to a total of 45 days in all sports. The transfer windows mark the time during the year when athletes can put their name into the transfer portal in order to be contacted by other schools.
The transfer windows, which were implemented last year, will vary from sport to sport. In football, the windows will be reduced from 60 days down to 45. Previously, football players had a 45-day window beginning the day after the College Football Playoff field was announced and then another 15-day window from April 15 to April 30 coinciding with spring practice.
With this rules update, the window right after the conclusion of the season will last 30 days with a second 15-day window in the spring.
For college basketball, the portal opened the day after Selection Sunday (March 13 last year) and closed 60 days later on May 11. Now that window will be reduced to 45 days.
Exact dates for the upcoming calendar year have yet to be revealed by the NCAA.
The DI Council approved changes to transfer windows in all sports to 45 days, including:
🏀Men’s & women’s basketball: 45 days
🏈Football: 45 days (30 days after season, 15 days in spring)Council actions are not final until meeting concludes today.
— NCAA PR (@NCAA_PR) October 4, 2023
The Division I Council previously proposed reducing the transfer windows down to 30 days, citing data that showed the majority of athletes who enter the transfer portal do so within the first week of the transfer window opening. Instead, the Council decided on 45 days.
The change only affects when athletes can enter the portal; transfer commitments do not need to happen during these timeframes. Additionally, graduate students can enter the transfer portal at any time.