Football Done, Basketball Transfer Portal Next. Tulane's Hunter Says to Expect Changes
The Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Oversight Committees proposed that the notification-of-transfer windows open for 15 days starting after the conclusion of the 2026 Men's and Women's Final Fours. The women wrap up their Final Four in Phoenix on April 5th. The men have their championship game on April 6th in Indianapolis.
Under the proposals, the Division I women's basketball notification-of-transfer window would open April 6-20. The men's notification-of-transfer window would open April 7-21.
The recommendations must be approved by the Division I Cabinet, which is scheduled to review the proposals this month. If approved, the legislation would go into effect this April, 2026.
Tulane men's basketball coach Ron Hunter is on the committee to determine where this proposal goes. They next meet this Friday, and Hunter is hopeful the changes will go through.
"I can't go into much detail," Hunter told us, "but we can't allow the portal to affect the NCAA tournament. That's our bell cow. Personally, I don't think anything should happen until that's (the NCAA basketball tournament) over."
In 2025, the transfer windows opened after the conclusion of the second round of the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships and stayed open for 30 days.
"It'll be a change," Hunter admitted. "What that change will be, I can't go into it, but there will be a change (from the way it is now)."
Additionally, the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Oversight Committees proposed a change to when student-athletes can request to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal when a coaching change occurs before January 1st in a given season.
Under the proposal, once a school announces a new head coach hire, there will be a five-day period for the new coaching staff and current players to meet. After that five-day period, student-athletes would have a 15-day window to notify their school to enter the Transfer Portal.
If a new head coach isn't hired within 30 days of the previous coach's departure, student-athletes would have a 15-day window to enter the Transfer Portal beginning the 31st day.
However, if a coaching change is made after Jan. 1, student-athletes would have to wait until the notification-of-transfer window opens in April.
Portions Courtesy NCAA.org
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.