I have always gotten good advice here, so I thought I would try again. My son is transferring, and he is considering many different options. One would be to go to a school in the same conference in which he played his freshman year. The rub there is that he would have to sit out a year. I was hoping to get some advice from those who have experience with this, either their own children or ones they know.
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D1 to D1 has to sit a year regardless of conference unless you can get special dispensation from the NCAA.
Don't count on getting a pass to avoid sitting out a year. The options are ...
1) Sit out a year
2) Transfter down a level of ball
3) Transfer 4-2-4. This means leave your D1, go JuCo for a year and transfer to a D1.
It is DII, but you are correct. It may be that he has to sit out with any DII that he may transfer to. He is also considering some high level DIII's.
Go where he can get the best education that fits his preferred major and where they have a plan for him. If he has a program that really wants him discuss with them the 4-2-4 options as an alternative to sitting out a year. Be aware that going 4-2-4 has some potential complications with regard to getting all of the proper classes in. There is a lot more going on at college than just baseball so make a fully informed and broad based decision based on academic fit, location, cost, and of course baseball. DIII is a viable option, but make sure there it is a viable option as top end DIII's can be very competitive for playing time. Roster review is important no matter where he goes.
I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure with D2, you can avoid the sit out a year transferring to another D2 if the coach releases the player. This is a one time thing. The problem is I kind of doubt the coach will release him if he's going to a school in the same conference. Sometimes it's hard to get the coach to release you at all and it takes quite a fight to do it. I don't know the specific rules around it, but I have heard of this happening with some guys that my son played with. He was a D2 guy for 4 years. Might want to call the NCAA and ask about how this works.
