[81alum]

What are the personal reasons.  We aren’t going to get grad transfers unless they applied months ago on most cases

This is the main problem for grad admissions.  Admissions to graduate programs are program-by-program and you need to apply to the specific program you are interested in (for most programs) by December 5--same as the undergraduate deadline.  Some are later.  But in December most players are focused on their season and not looking forward to the next year.  The only way to "fix" the problem would be to require the various academic departments to have later application deadlines, or (alternatively) to tell them they need to give special consideration to athletes.  See how that goes down.

The deadline for undergraduate transfers is a little better:  March 15.  Of course, there are only 20-40 of those slots (depending on the year) for the whole university, as compared with thousands of graduate admissions slots.  The reason the deadline is later is that it gives admissions time to know what the "yield" was on the entering freshman class and time to know what attrition has occurred in the returning classes.  Since both numbers have been so outstanding for so many years, the available slots are truly a minor blip in the grand scheme of admissions.  

Furthermore, the timing for undergraduate transfer admissions probably makes it a better fit for fall sports like football, since those seasons end long before the deadline.  But the deadline is still before the portal opens up and the season is over for spring sports like basketball. 

So for Stanford to recruit any WBB undergraduate to transfer, we would have to recruit them 18 months out, or we would have to break the rule and surreptitiously contact them during their season at their existing school--so they can apply prior to March 15 and prior to the portal opening. 

These ideas are not going to work.  Which means Stanford has to figure out how to do competitive athletics without the same advantages as our competitors.  But that is not a new story.

[81alum]

What are the personal reasons.  We aren’t going to get grad transfers unless they applied months ago on most cases

This is the main problem for grad admissions.  Admissions to graduate programs are program-by-program and you need to apply to the specific program you are interested in (for most programs) by December 5--same as the undergraduate deadline.  Some are later.  But in December most players are focused on their season and not looking forward to the next year.  The only way to "fix" the problem would be to require the various academic departments to have later application deadlines, or (alternatively) to tell them they need to give special consideration to athletes.  See how that goes down.

The deadline for undergraduate transfers is a little better:  March 15.  Of course, there are only 20-40 of those slots (depending on the year) for the whole university, as compared with thousands of graduate admissions slots.  The reason the deadline is later is that it gives admissions time to know what the "yield" was on the entering freshman class and time to know what attrition has occurred in the returning classes.  Since both numbers have been so outstanding for so many years, the available slots are truly a minor blip in the grand scheme of admissions.  

Furthermore, the timing for undergraduate transfer admissions probably makes it a better fit for fall sports like football, since those seasons end long before the deadline.  But the deadline is still before the portal opens up and the season is over for spring sports like basketball. 

So for Stanford to recruit any WBB undergraduate to transfer, we would have to recruit them 18 months out, or we would have to break the rule and surreptitiously contact them during their season at their existing school--so they can apply prior to March 15 and prior to the portal opening. 

These ideas are not going to work.  Which means Stanford has to figure out how to do competitive athletics without the same advantages as our competitors.  But that is not a new story.