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Hardship transfers could be forced to sit out a season

Hardship transfers could be forced to sit out a season

The days of transferring and being eligible to play immediately based on a hardship might be disappearing.

NCAA president Mark Emmert said during a lengthy in-studio interview on ESPN’s Mike and Mike show on Friday, that the NCAA membership has proposed forcing players cleared to transfer because of medical hardship to sit out a season and then receive an addition season at the backend of their careers.

“The universities are saying, take that year, deal with whatever your family situation is. We know that when you transfer your probability of graduating goes down, so make sure you get your academics back up,” Emmert said. “But we don’t want to punish you so we’re going to extend another year of eligibility. We want to give you another year of scholarship, add another year to your scholarship total so that you end up being held harmless basically if you have to make that change.”

While the rule might seem a bit unfair considering players are often seeking transfer because of circumstances beyond their control (a family situation or illness), it also stops student-athletes — and poaching coaches — from abusing the rule.

From July 2012 to June 2013, the NCAA approved 127 of 236 hardship waivers.

“That’s a pretty good compromise right now,” Emmert said of the new rule. “I think the board will probably support that next week, but it’s got to be voted on.”

What do you think? Should players applying for hardship waivers still be forced to sit out a season?

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Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter Follow @YahooDrSaturday