Impact Of NJSIAA Transfer Rule
Is Felt At Several Jersey Schools

The NCAA transfer portal, which has become a major game-changer since 2021, has also resulted with some college rosters having fifth- and even sixth-year athletes who might be graduate students, taking full advantage of whatever seasons of eligibility are available.

That’s been more than enough ammunition to forever alter the direction of collegiate sports, and in the high school ranks right here in New Jersey there was a brand-new wrinkle added two years ago during the 2023-2024 school year as new legislation was enacted by the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) allowing a 1-time ‘free’ transfer for freshmen, sophomores and juniors who are eligible to play right away at their new school.

Reference to the transfer portal in college sports remained on the minds of New Jersey’s high school athletic directors who still unanimously approved the new legislation in the spring of 2023 that now allows one free transfer through the first six semesters, or through one’s junior year, as long as it occurs before the start of practice in their intended sport that season.

Have more problems been created, or has there be an actual easing of at least some of the concerns as certain scholastic athletes will simply continue to transfer regardless of the rules in effect?

There still seem to be few clear answers.

Most athletic directors through the years have simply signed off on those students wishing to transfer, and any potential hearings that may have occurred involving those cases were usually only temporary disruptions in the inevitable completion of the process since there was little or no chance of having any real legal pull to stop a kid from moving from one school to another.      

The two-year-old, updated transfer rules for scholastic athletes were adopted by member schools who were present for the NJSIAA annual business meeting held in May of 2023 at the Pines Manor in Edison.
The first aspect of the new rule on transfers, approved by a vote of 263-38 with two abstentions, states that once a student-athlete begins his first day as a freshman in high school no recruiting of that young man by outsiders can take place.

The second part of the new rule – and the most impactful in terms of a new way of approaching the entire subject – is that high school athletes are allowed one free transfer during their first six semesters, or through and including their junior year.

“Transfer rules are never fair for everybody, but you hope that they are put in place for the best interest of the kids,” said Joe Piro, the athletic director at Nutley. “If an eighth grader goes to Seton Hall Prep or Don Bosco Prep and then decides that he would rather come back to his hometown high school then I don’t see the benefit of sitting kids in that instance.

“I do think that kids who want to leave one of the parochial or private schools should go back to their sending district and not go to another public school district where they do not reside.”

The current transfer rule does eliminate any reference to the requirement of a ‘bona fide’ change of address which was the case before, and had been raised as a topic of discussion in New Jersey high school athletics dating back more than a half century.

For instance - back in the day - there were some eyebrows raised as to how Weequahic’s nationally-ranked basketball team back in the 1966-67 season could add star 6-10 center Dana Lewis from New York City and the outstanding guard Billy Mainor from Jersey City before that winter campaign adding to an already well-stocked roster that included such all-state caliber talents as then future NBA guard Dennis ‘Mo’ Layton.

There was nothing presented as definitive proof that there was anything unethical about the transfers in question who further bolstered coach Les Fein’s historic Weequahic hoops squad, but the topic of high-profile transfers continued to be in the mix for years to come, particularly in boys basketball, and frequently involving the North Jersey parochial powers. 

As aforementioned, the current transfer rules eliminate any factor about change of address or where a student-athlete might reside when it comes to moving on to another school.

And, non-public or public schools are able to openly recruit young talent if it is done before any of those student-athletes step foot in their high schools as freshmen.

Individual school districts continue to look to apply their own local rules, including whether or not a public-school district decides to allow students to come into their buildings from other towns with the ability to also charge them a tuition fee.

Some schools have long permitted special education students from other towns to attend their schools, but supposedly not for the main purpose of playing for a school’s football or basketball team.

Yet, there have been student-athletes through the years who have had their families pay tuition to attend public schools in other towns in order to play for a certain team or coach, but any investigation of that factor being involved will apparently take a back seat with the new transfer rules. 

“I remember we had a student at Ramapo (in Franklin Lakes) who transferred in from another town and had to pay something like $17,000 a year in tuition,” said retired Ramapo Athletic Director and current Montclair football coach Ron Anello. “However, I don’t know how many schools even allow tuition students?

“I remember growing up as a kid in Montclair and you couldn’t wait until you could play for the Montclair High School football team, and be able to run out onto Woodman Field on a Saturday afternoon to play for the Mounties.

“It is what it is, and I don’t know how the new, free transfer rule will work out, but I do know that I don’t want to be in the business of penalizing kids, such as an incoming senior from California, who moves to New Jersey because his father had to relocate due to changing jobs.”

The current legislation concerning Jersey high school athletes does mean that seniors deciding to attend a different school for their final high school year – along with underclassmen in the midst of a second transfer in the first six semesters of their high school career - are ineligible for 30 days from the start of the season in their sport.

Pope John senior running back Nick Mignone, who played last year at his hometown James Caldwell High School, has to sit out 30 days to start this fall season before playing for the Sparta-based Catholic school, while Seton Hall Prep junior quarterback Jaylin Bullock, who played at St. Peter’s Prep as a freshman and at Montclair as a sophomore, is sitting out the first four games of the 2025 season before he is eligible to take the field for the Pirates.    

Last year’s SHP QB, Khaden Davis, took advantage of his ‘free’ transfer year to move from the West Orange Catholic school to Donovan Catholic in Toms River for his junior year. The Ocean County school happens to also be closer to his home in Tinton Falls.

Freshmen, sophomores or junior transfers who arrive at their new destination after practice has commenced in their chosen sport, have to sit out 30 days, and students who have transferred after the regular season begins are not eligible for that season’s NJSIAA state tournament.

The transfer portal in college sports has created a ‘Wild, Wild West’ element with more than half (or more) of a particular college basketball team sometimes leaving their school in search of greener pastures on another campus on an annual basis.

One example on the current college hoops scene is a player such as senor Ven Allen Lubin, who played at Notre Dame as a freshman, Vanderbilt as a sophomore, North Carolina as a junior, and is now at one of the Tar Heels’ chief rivals, nearby North Carolina State, for the 2025-2026 season.

Ultimately, the new transfer rules still don’t change too much as far as the inherent differences between public and private schools, and the fact that powerhouse teams at certain Catholic schools can add to their programs with no particular concern in regards to what town their student-athletes come from.

Yes, the publics can now attract student-athletes from other towns if they wish, but that practice does not appear very widespread, and the non-publics continue to be able to amass teams with the best of the best who are available, regardless of their grade level.

“There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that the level or caliber of athlete is substantially better at the non-public schools, and that’s just a fact,” said Nutley’s Piro. “With that being said, I do think that there needs to be something in place which helps a first- or second-year high school student be able to make his or her decision to go back home to their public school.

“There are still a lot of moving parts with the topic of transfers, but we should always at least try to do what’s in the best interest of the kids.”