NCAA Division I Cabinet adopts new transfer portal window for men’s, women’s basketball
The NCAA Division I Cabinet approved new transfer portal windows for multiple sports on Wednesday. That includes men’s and women’s basketball.
Following a recommendation from both the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees, the NCAA transfer portal will now open for 15 days after their respective national championships. That will take effect immediately.
With Wednesday’s announcement, the women’s basketball portal window will open April 6 and run through April 20. Men’s basketball will have its transfer portal period from April 7 through April 21.
Additionally, when a coaching change occurs, a 15-day window will open five days after a new coach is hired or publicly announced, the NCAA said. If a coach is not announced within 30 days of the current coach’s departure, and if the 31st day is after the national championship game, a 15-day window will then open. That additional window is only available after the portal window opens through Jan. 2.
The D-I Cabinet also clarified the rule for mid-year transfers. Athletes are not eligible for play at a second school if they enrolled at another during the first academic term, regardless of whether they played a sport.
How basketball transfer portal rules are changingThe NCAA Division I men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees officially proposed the new transfer window in November 2025, and the proposal went under review during this week’s NCAA Convention. Both committees argued in favor of a transfer window after the national championship games concluded.
Last year, the transfer portal window opened for 30 days after the second round of the NCAA Tournament, running from March 24 through April 22. That move drew pushback, including from ESPN analyst Dick Vitale, because teams were still competing for a national championship at the time. Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was among those who criticized the timing of the window.
“When I came back Sunday night, that was it,” Izzo said amid his team’s run to the Elite Eight. “There was nothing on my mind but giving these guys a chance to win one more game, get to the Elite Eight. Win one more game and have a memory that will last their entire life, their kid’s life, and their grandkid’s life because that’s what it is.
“So excuse me for being passionate about it, or pissed off about it, whichever words you want to use, but I’m not going to talk about [the transfer portal] because it’s not fair. It’s not fair to the people. You could say it’s fair to your program. I’ll run my program like I want to run my program. And if people have a disagreement with that, God bless them.”
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