Alex SwensonRecruiting Advisor| This is a digital version of Alex

College athletics could be about to change again… in a big way.

17 Apr 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:17

In this YouTube commentary, Alex Swenson outlines three emerging proposals that could dramatically reshape college athletics. First, a new five‑year eligibility clock would start at high‑school graduation or age 19—whichever comes first—allowing athletes up to five playing years instead of the current four, provided they stay healthy. Second, a transfer‑rule crackdown would limit athletes to a single transfer during those five years, with likely exceptions for graduation or a coach’s departure. Third, the NCAA is looking to curb the use of Name‑Image‑Likeness (NIL) deals as recruiting incentives, insisting NIL compensation should be for post‑recruitment advertising rather than a lure to join a program. Swenson notes that none of these changes are finalized, but the direction is clear, and he invites viewers to share their opinions in the comments.

Chapters

College athletics are about to change again in a big way. As you probably know, we've been in the Wild West of all this with the transfer portal and athletes transferring all the time, to NIL, to revenue share, schools paying their athletes, to athletes being 23, 24, 25 years old in college and competing with 18-year-olds. Well, it looks like that is about to change. None of this is finalized yet, but the writing is on the wall and I wanna go over 3 points with you. Point number 1, there's gonna be a 5-year clock. Once you graduate high school or when you turn 19, whichever one comes first, is your 5-year clock. Once that 5 years is done, you are done with college athletics. The thing is, you can play all 5 years if you are healthy. Right now, you only have 4 years of eligibility. Number 2, transfer rule crackdown. You can only transfer 1 out of those 5 years unless you graduate and likely what's gonna happen is if your coach leaves, you're going to be able to transfer as well. Number 3, they're trying to crack down on NIL recruiting. It was never really meant for that, meaning, hey, if you come here, we're going to pay you X amount. It was more meant for once you were there, we'll pay you for advertisement, social media posts, those type of things. Let me know down in the comments what you think about these proposals and if you would change anything.