I like that they are doing something, but I don't like that they are picking between the polar opposites of sitting a year and not sitting a year, I'd like to see something in between. For instance, instead of sitting a year, have the athlete take a year's worth of courses at the new school before playing. At most schools the minimum full-time course load for a year is eight classes. Some athletes could transfer in January, take five spring classes and three summer classes, and be eligible in the fall. Others wouldn't be able to take that aggressive a schedule and would sit a year. Still others would transfer in the summer and have to sit until January.
Or, let players play right away if they are ahead of schedule to graduate. Lots of players enroll in the January of their senior HS year, or have some dual-enrollment credits, or just take a lot of summer courses. If they have enough credits to be a half year or a year ahead of schedule they could play right away. I hope this is what they mean by minimum academic requirements in the article.