This article has been updated to reflect the NCAA's response.

In a potentially paradigm-shifting proposal, the NCAA members may vote to allow all Division-I transfers to be eligible to play immediately. The restrictions would be that student athletes would be asked to meet a certain academic standard — possibly including a minimum GPA — in order to transfer immediately, and any additional transfer would require the student-athletes to sit out a full year. A source has confirmed that the idea has gained increased traction in recent weeks, and it has been referred to a committee on academics that will meet in a few weeks to discuss the aforementioned academic standard. Among the discussion points will be deciding which metrics best indicate a potential transfer's ability to transition academically at a new school.

In April, a 19-person task force comprised of commissioners, athletic directors, coaches, and student-athletes initially assembled under the name of Division I Transfer Working Group. Their mission was to bring a fresh approach to the often publicly maligned transfer process. Although earlier groups had been formed in prior years under similar missions, the Transfer Working Group was given more data, while also tasked with the goal of trying to create uniformity within the transfer process.

By late June, the Transfer Working Group made progress on creating uniformity in transfer rules. They contemplated two polar-opposite options: the first was to require every student-athlete to sit out a year, while the second option was to enable every student-athlete to be immediately eligible upon transferring to a new school, as long as they achieved minimum academic standards designed to lead the student-athlete ultimately to graduate.

TWG Chairman Justin Sell, Athletic Director of South Dakota State, told NCAA Associate Director of Public and Media Relations Michelle Brutlag Hosick at the time, “I am thrilled with the great progress made this week, and I’m confident we can move forward with some initial concepts for consideration in this year’s legislative cycle. We are working toward academics-based, data-driven decisions that benefit student-athletes, teams and schools.”

Within recent weeks, it has become more clear that the latter option of immediate eligibility for transfers who achieve a minimum GPA is the one gaining traction amongst members. The proposal must be completed by Nov. 1. The members of the Transfer Working Group will continue to seek feedback from fellow coaches, directors, commissioners and student-athletes in the days ahead, but it is becoming more likely that the proposal will be voted upon next April with the possibility of this going into effect as early as the 2018-19 calendar, the source said. The uniformity of applying the same rules across all sports would potentially streamline the transfer process.

But Hosick said it was more likely that the measure would require a longer timetable, and would need more time for discussion before having a serious chance to pass, if it reaches that point.

"This is guided by the presidents that run the association," Hosick said. "At this point, it’s just an idea, and it will be considered for at least the next year before it would be an actual proposal."

Proponents of student-athletes being permitted to change schools as freely as coaches will undoubtedly laud this potential new development. The concern from some detractors may be the further encouragement of raiding smaller programs as well as the likelihood that the number of annual transfers will grow exponentially. The challenge of tracking potential tampering in pending transfers may also be a potential hazard of the new development.