The NCAA Committee on Legislative Relief has reportedly issued a waiver to allow athletes named by their respective schools as a “Designated Student-Athlete” to enter a temporary transfer portal opening.
Yahoo! Sports insider Ross Dellenger was the first to report the DSA news on Wednesday, with the temporary portal opening from July 7 to Aug. 5. According to Dellenger, there is no limit to how many athletes a school can designate as a DSA, but the deadline to submit a list of those student-athletes is July 6. Any athlete termed a DSA by their respective programs will be allowed to enter the temporary transfer portal as long as they are released from their contract prohibition.
Here is Dellenger’s thread of information regarding the DSA change by the NCAA:
In the massive House v. NCAA class-action settlement on June 6, the grandfathering of the designated student-athletes played a large role in her eventual ruling.
Due to the ruling, all schools are now limited to how many roster spots they can allow, which makes the decision to open an additional transfer portal opening an important one for those labeled as a DSA.
Following the decision, here are the updated numbers of roster spots for respective FBS schools under the settlement:
The plaintiffs’ attorney Jeffrey Kessler shared a file with On3 Sports stating that any designated student-athlete would not be punished for the ruling.
“While Defendants insisted that the changes to the Settlement Agreement recognize that individual schools and their athletic departments retain discretion to independently determine which athletes will be on their rosters, that has always been the case; and it remains unchanged whether or not there are roster limits. The revisions to the Settlement Agreement ensure that class members who have or would have lost roster spots or promised roster spots as a result of the new roster limits will be in the same position as they would have been in if roster limits were never implemented, i.e., roster limits do not apply to them. We thus believe that this relief is exactly the type of change the Court was seeking and in fact, provides even greater protections for athletes than the Court identified.”
The decision to transfer or stay with their respective schools is a decision left to the designated student-athletes, but the designation of an athlete as a DSA is in the hands of their school, according to Dellenger. Schools have agreed to “act in good faith”, following the settlement heard around the world.
The NCAA Committee on Legislative Relief’s announcement Wednesday afternoon sparks hope for athletes looking to try and earn scholarships elsewhere, however. It will be intriguing to see if any current Aggies termed a DSA will find themselves transferring from College Station when the additional portal opens on July 7.
Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Dylan on X: @dylanmflippo.
This article originally appeared on Aggies Wire: NCAA grants DSA waiver creating new transfer portal window for summer 2025
Reporting by Dylan Flippo, Aggies Wire / Aggies Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
