its really simple
the NCAA controls the portal
they may not control the dollar figures but they do have a say in player movement
once a portal player signs with a team they are removed from the portal - very easy solution to all of this that doesnt include contracts (though might as well go that route if possible)
its ridiculous that a player can sign with a team but still be in the portal imo
in other words - portal players get 1 portal exit and 1 signature to use, per year...not infinity (as is apparently the current rule)
It's simple in theory, it's not simple in practice.
Back in the days when a player requested a transfer and had to sit out one year, that transfer had to be approved and the school has to sign a release, and most of the time, there had to be an explanation for the transfer. In other words, yes NCAA can implement a rule saying you enter the portal but once you sign on the dotted line you are committed and binded and no more switching...fine...but the problem is there has to be an exception for it, this exception is what NCAA doesn't want to deal with on a case by case basis and play the role of investigating whether the claim of exception is legit or not for everyone who ask for one. Exceptions like:
My dad/mom/brother/sister got seriously sick, I need to stay closer to home in Oklahoma.
My dad got a new job, my entire family is moving from upstate NY to Austin TX, I no longer want to be enrolled in a NYS college.
My coach or assistant coach left, he was my tie to the school, I no longer want to go there.
I was promised a starting role, they just recruited over me yesterday, I want to start and play elsewhere.
I am experiencing asthma here in Miami, I never had this problem in Arizona, I want to move back to Arizona.
I want to change my major from Communications to Craft Brewing & Distillation Science and this school doesn't offer that major, I need to go to a school that offers that.
I have mental health issues and I need to stay close to home.
I was practicing yesterday and suffered an injury that may be season ending and I no longer feel I can contribute to this team by spending the season in rehab, I want to move closer to home.
My girlfriend in West Virginia is pregnant, I need to move there to be with her.
etc etc etc...
NCAA doesn't want to evaluate and judge on the exception cases, and you can't enforce and one chance rule without allowing an exception for the cases that are legit, but the reality is everyone is going to ask for an exception with all kinds of excuses.