Caitlin Clark let her guard down and shared a hot cover of Travis and Jason Kelce’s “New Heights” podcast on Thursday.
Clark spoke out against the frequency with which athletes use the transfer portal in college, especially in football.
“The fate of college recruiting is crazy,” Clark said.
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He agreed with Travis that the NCAA should go back to its previous rules that players who transfer from one school to another should have to sit out a full year before playing at a new school. However, Clark said exceptions should be made for athletes on teams that lose a head coach.
“I agree,” Clark said when Travis talked about bringing back the old system. “Or you get a free pass if your coach leaves… But now we have people at their fourth school in their seventh year. It’s getting atrocious.”
Travis Kelce and Caitlin Clark. (Image)
Players have been transferring at historic rates in recent years after the transfer portal was introduced in October 2018. Before the introduction of the transfer portal, athletes needed permission from their coaches or athletic directors and were often denied. those requests.
The transfer portal was used even more frequently after the legalization of NIL agreements by universities as recruiting incentives in 2021. From 1906 until the summer of 2021, players were prohibited from profiting from their college sports careers. either way.
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Now, NIL is often an important factor for many athletes when choosing a school.
“It’s crazy…Adam Schefter reports, ‘Yeah, they’ve negotiated a new deal for him to stay in college,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, where else is he going?'” Clark said.
In 2023, the NCAA attempted to tighten its restrictions, introducing a new rule that only allowed freshmen to transfer once without having to sit out for a year. But a further transfer as an undergraduate required the NCAA to grant a waiver allowing the athlete to compete immediately.
Iowa players including guard Caitlin Clark, center forward; forward Hannah Stuelke, left forward; and guard Kate Martin (20) celebrate after an NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game against Louisville on March 26, 2023 in Seattle. (AP Photo/Caean Couto)
But the rule generated so much controversy that the NCAA was forced to release a statement condemning the “violent, and possibly criminal, threats directed at committee members” by the rule. The NCAA eventually waived the rule in March 2024 in response to a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Education, the District of Columbia and 10 states.
Athletes now have more freedom and more incentives than ever to make transfers. Clark never took advantage of this system.
She spent her entire four-year NCAA women’s basketball career at Iowa. She told Kelces University that the sports have lost the sense of amateurism that separated them from professional sports.
“It’s kind of sad. A little bit of that amateurism of college sports was lost, and that’s why it’s so funny,” Clark said. “Now it’s basically minor league football.”
Travis agreed with Clark.
Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark reacts during an interview during the WNBA draft on April 15, 2024 in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
“I’m too old school. I didn’t get a chance to transfer,” Travis said.
Travis spent four years at the University of Cincinnati from 2009 to 2012, but only played three seasons of football after he was suspended his sophomore season in 2010 for using marijuana.
Jason, who played his entire college career in Cincinnati as a backup running back who converted to the offensive line, criticized players leaving before the playoffs.
“I don’t think people should leave before the playoffs. I think they should realize that. I think there should be a level of commitment from the college player that there isn’t right now,” he said. .
