Executive order aims to limit NCAA athletes to 5 years, 1 transfer - ESPN

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools.

The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for «no more than a five-year period» and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn't meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.

The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women's and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes.

«College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules concerning pay-for-play and player eligibility that can't be endlessly challenged in court, as is the case now,» the White House said in a news release about the order.

Multiple lawyers who work with colleges and their athletes told ESPN they believe that judges would rule the president's order to be unconstitutional and unenforceable if challenged in court.

NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement that the order was a «significant step forward» but that stability in college sports will also require a more permanent solution in the form of a new law enacted by Congress.

Trump acknowledged that his administration would likely be sued when he first mentioned his plans for an executive order during a roundtable with college sports leaders in early March. Trump has used the threat of pulling federal funds from universities as a negotiating tactic and as an