By MATT PIKE
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer to different schools.
The order states that college athletes can play a maximum of five seasons during a five-year window along with allowing 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 on August 1st.
A school that plays an athlete who doesn't meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.
"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 press release about the order.
Multiple lawyers who work with colleges and their athletes told sources from 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 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. Trump has used the threat of pulling federal funds from universities as a negotiating tactic and as an effort to enforce other policies during his second term, with mixed success.
In September, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from Harvard as punishment for the university's decision not to comply with an executive order related to alleged antisemitic behavior on campus. The immediate uncertainty the new order creates, however, could dissuade some athletes from transferring when the basketball transfer portal opens next week.
Trump has expressed interest in helping the college sports industry find its balance multiple times in the past year. Several dozen college sports leaders joined Trump and other sports executives at the White House roundtable discussion in early March in search of a way for the federal government to restore some power to the NCAA and its schools. Trump said at that meeting that he intended to write an executive order within a week that would "solve every problem in this room."
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