Prior to this rule change it was not certain that an athlete who transferred to another school within the same level (a Division I school to a Division I school etc.) would be able to participate in the next sport season. This may have deterred some athletes to hold off on transferring, especially later in their careers. But as you will see from the linked article below this is no longer the case, if you transfer you are immediately eligible to participate in the very next season.
So how does that affect high school athletes? If you can take the view point of a college coach who must win games in order to keep their jobs, there are some very specific things they need from players in order to do that. And one of those specifics is experience, a student-athlete who is experienced and proficient in the competition level they will be facing. Coaches know that athlete will have an immediate positive impact and will help them win. Coaches need to win!
If I am a coach and I know I need to win and I have a choice between an incoming freshman or a transfer student-athlete who has experience in how college athletics work, who has proven their ability to perform at their previous school but more than anything transfer student-athletes won't need that lead up time that most incoming freshman do to positively impact the team.
So in short, it will put more limitations on high school student-athletes ability to get recruited especially early in the recruitment process because the transfer portal opens towards the end of sport seasons and coaches will wait to see if they can find transfers first to add to their roster.
Now the bigger question is how do you beat this? How do you overcome this obstacle? MORE EXPOSURE! More outreach to every college coach in the country, that is how you beat it. We, at Beyond the Hype, knew these things were coming, we knew that limited exposure greatly affects ones ability to get an athletic scholarship and that is one of the main reasons we have created these services for every student-athlete in the country. You deserve to achieve your goals.