An Athlete's Perspective: Transferring

Editor's Note: Mat Batts is a member of the UNC Wilmington baseball team. The redshirt sophomore transferred from Western Carolina University after one year. Batts, a left-handed pitcher, appeared in 20 of the Catamounts' games, and finished the season with a 3-1 record and 4.44 ERA. He transferred to UNCW last year, and per NCAA transfer rules, the 6-foot southpaw sat out an entire season.

When a high school senior signs his or her National Letter of Intent to play a sport collegiately, there is no greater joy or sense of accomplishment. But, what happens when a student-athlete enters college with expectations that are not met?

Transferring is a major part of the athletic picture that student-athletes are forced to consider when deciding on the school in which they wish to continue their careers, as well as their academic studies. It happens all the time, sometimes very publicly, like in the cases of Greg Paulus (Duke to Syracuse) and Russell Wilson (NC State to Wisconsin), and sometimes very privately when an athlete simply decides he or she wants something different. Either way, the process is complicated, and it can be difficult for athletes to complete without frustration.

For student-athletes who wish to transfer from one four-year school to another, the most difficult part of the process is virtually unavoidable and numbingly boring. I can attest to the difficulty of this process, as a student-athlete who transferred after my freshman year. The transferring student is forced by the NCAA to sit out of athletic competition for a full year, while maintaining a full-time student status at the new school, as well as the 2.0 GPA required for athletic participation.

For a majority of the athletes that this rule affects, including me, this year away from athletic competition is the first time in their careers they have spent away from their sport, and it quickly becomes the worst. The frustration of watching your team perform, day in and day out, and not being able to pitch, is all but overwhelming.

Practice and team workouts are permitted for the student-athlete, but when the beginning of the season comes, a permanent spot on the bench opens up. The NCAA refers to this year of ineligibility as "one academic year in residence," and has implemented the rule in order to avoid a transferring frenzy of student-athletes changing schools every year. This rule, however, can be voided if the student-athlete has graduated with a bachelor's degree and wishes to transfer to a school to begin graduate school while fulfilling his or her four years of eligibility.

Whatever the reason for transferring, and regardless of the student-athlete's prior redshirting history, a five-year window is placed on the athletes' ability to compete at the Division I level. This means that an athlete has five years to complete their four-year athletic eligibility, regardless of a redshirt, and including the "year in residence" that is applied to a transferring athlete. This severely limits an athlete's ability to pick and choose where they want to participate, and puts a great emphasis on the possibility of being injured.

Because of the strict limit of years that athletes are forced finish their career in, and the unforeseen elements that student-athletes often face at their initial collegiate choice, the National College Players Association (NCPA) is pushing for the NCAA to implement a one-time, non-punishable transfer that could be used in the event that an athlete is not pleased with the way his or her collegiate career is headed. This one-time transfer is one of the many "missions" that the NCPA is striving to achieve in order to ensure that student-athletes are given a fair athletic experience.

For now, however, transferring is a decision that is both difficult to make and difficult to see through. It poses many hurdles for athletes to overcome throughout, but in the end, can provide student-athletes with a renewed enthusiasm for their sport and their academic pursuits.