There are just under 300 players in the Transfer portal for 2023-2024 academic year (for baseball) and we haven’t even started the season yet. That number will easily grow to over 1,000 before the end of the summer. The NCAA has made it easy for players to transfer as they took away the rule that requires them to sit one year after transferring schools, which has created chaos over the years. A player is not required to state a reason for transferring. They simply need to inform the NCAA.
Selecting a College program is quite difficult and we will always have young men who enter a program only to find that it isn’t the program for them; and thus resulting in a desire to transfer. But, it seems that the rate of transferring has increased over the past 5 years. Yes, we can blame the NCAA for eliminating the ‘sit year’, but I believe that too many HS kids are rushing into their decision. They see their friends, teammates, players they follow on social media all committing and they panic. They believe that since everyone else is committing that they too must quickly find a suitor. And rushing into a decision is a sure-fire way to making a mistake. The pressure a HS kid feels to commit seems to be at an all-time high.
Removing the rush to commit and ignoring the commitments of others must be the first step in the recruiting process. But, eliminating the peer pressure to commit is just the first step. Then you need to take steps to ensure that you are making a well-informed decision. Below are a few points that need to be factored into your decision-making process. I am sure there are others, but this is a great starting list. of things that may not necessarily be top of mind when talking to a coach.
Hopefully you are able to take a few new questions from this post. Making a decision where to spend the next four years is a difficult one. The more questions you ask, the better your chances of making the right decision. The process of transferring is just as difficult, maybe even more so than your initial college selection. So, do what you can to not have to go through that process.