NCAA President Charlie Baker Opposes Rules, Laws That Would Limit Player Transfers

Count NCAA president Charlie Baker among those who doesn't want to see college athletes lose their autonomy when it comes to transfers.

"I'm not much on that. I'm not," he told ESPN's Dan Murphy when asked about proposed federal laws from Congress that would add more restrictions to the transfer portal.

Baker said he feels the currently frenzied state of the transfer portal is reflective of young adults transferring more in general, regardless of whether they are athletes or just students.

"Do they transfer more than they did ten years ago? Yes," he told Murphy. "Do they transfer more than their peers who aren't student-athletes? No."

"They actually transfer less than students who aren't student-athletes do, and kids just transfer more because they have more information, more data, and they're more impatient about a lot of things," he added.

Nonetheless, both NIL deals and the transfer portal have dramatically changed college sports, namely college football and basketball. A number of college coaches and administrators have decried the new landscape.

"It's the biggest s--t show," a former SEC assistant told Jesse Simonton of On3 in January regarding the transfer portal. "I see all these young guys here and think, 'Boys, you really want to do this?'"

"We've opened up Pandora's box," added an SEC player personnel director.

And then there's Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, who has been notoriously opposed to the transfer portal.

"The problem is tampering," he said during a Gator Bowl press conference, per David Hale of ESPN. "And we could fix it easily if they'd let football people fix it. But they usually don't listen to us."

The hypocrisy in those complaints, however, is that college coaches—especially prominent football coaches—are paid millions of dollars and often change schools before their current contracts expire. In many cases, players commit to and join a school to play for a particular coach, only to see him depart for a bigger job.

So why shouldn't college athletes have the same ability to earn money from their talent, or leave situations they no longer feel benefit them?

"One of the things I hear from kids when I talk to them about this issue is, 'Coaches walk out on their contracts. What about us?'" Baker noted.

Still, both NIL deals and the current system for the transfer portal have a Wild West feel to them, and Baker noted that he's working with Congress to help address legal complaints against the NCAA, namely antitrust claims against the organizing body and the ongoing effort to classify college athletes as university employees.

"If we don't get it done this year, [we'll] certainly have more examples about why it would be important to take on preemption and compensation and employment and some of these other issues in the next Congress," he told Murphy.

But if Tuesday's comments are to be believed, don't expect Baker to lobby for major limits on player mobility.