NCAA pitches shorter transfer windows for hoops
Jeff BorzelloNov 26, 2025, 12:10 PM ET Close Jeff Borzello is a basketball recruiting insider. He has joined ESPN in 2014. The Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight committees have proposed that the notification-of-transfer windows open for 15 days following the conclusion of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, the NCAA announced Wednesday. The…
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Jeff Borzello
The Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Oversight committees have proposed that the notification-of-transfer windows open for 15 days following the conclusion of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, the NCAA announced Wednesday.
The Division I Cabinet will review the proposal in January; if approved, it would go into effect in April. The men’s basketball notification-of-transfer window would be open April 7-21, while the women’s window would be open April 6-20.
This would mark the third change to the window since they were introduced for the 2022-23 academic year. Initially a 60-day window that began following the NCAA tournament selections, it was cut to 45 days beginning the Monday after Selection Sunday in 2023. In October, it was announced that the window would be 30 days and begin after the second round of the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments.
The new proposal stems from a “desire by both committees to wait until after the championships have concluded.”
The oversight committees also proposed a change to the transfer process following a coaching change, one more in line with a change that was adopted in football in October. Under the proposed legislation, there will be a five-day period that begins once a school announces a new head coach hire for the new staff and current players to meet. After that period, the players will have a 15-day window to enter the transfer portal.
If the school hasn’t hired a new coach within 30 days of the previous coach’s departure, players will have a 15-day window to enter the portal beginning on the 31st day.
At schools where coaching changes are made after Jan. 1, players will have to wait until the transfer window opens in April.
Currently, there is a 30-day window for athletes to enter the transfer portal following a coaching change.
