U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) recently applauded President Donald Trump’s executive order cracking down on the number of athlete transfers in the NCAA, while also limiting eligibility for collegiate competitors to five seasons.
In late March, the lawmaker introduced legislation, which he now says would make the commander in chief’s EO “permanent.”
“Glad to see President Trump take action to fix the broken transfer portal that’s ruining college sports,” wrote Tuberville in an X post. “I introduced the Student-Athlete Act last week. My bill would make the EO permanent. College athletes should get 5 consecutive years to play 5 seasons and 1 free transfer. After that, if you transfer, you sit out a year.”
“It’s simple,” he added. “I look forward to my bill being brought to a vote soon.”
If passed, Tuberville’s Student-Athlete Act would allow student-athletes to have five consecutive years to play in five consecutive seasons. It would also allow for a one-time transfer without penalty, with any subsequent transfers resulting in the player sitting out a season.
“We can’t be having 25-year-old ‘students’ who graduated three years ago still competing in the NCAA,” Tuberville said after introducing the bill. “With my bill, a student-athlete gets five years to get their education, compete, and then move on. We also have to make sure students are getting a good education, which won’t happen if they are transferring every year.”
He added, “I’m all for student-athletes making money, but we have to create some national guidelines, as the current system is broken. I look forward to working with my colleagues to get this commonsense bill across the finish line.”
