HIGH school players who will transfer to another UAAP school in college will now have to wait for two years before becoming eligible to play in the league.

The UAAP board on Tuesday approved the recommendation of its amendments committee to increase the residency requirements for transferring high school players from one year to two years.

The new rule, which got the vote of the board during its regular monthly, meeting will take effect immediately and will cover the current batch of graduating high school players in the UAAP.

That includes two-time UAAP juniors MVP Jerie Pingoy, who was recently the subject of a tug-of-war between his high school team, Far Eastern University, and reigning champion Ateneo.

UAAP secretary general Junel Baculi explained rule change was aimed at syncronizing the league's residency rules since college transferees are also made to go through a two-year residency.

“Sa college student, two years din eh. So we wanted it to be uniform,” Baculi, also a member of the amendments committee, told Spin.ph.

Baculi also said that the transferring high school player can still play a maximum of five years with his new team.

The new rule is expected to have a big impact on Pingoy, the two-time UAAP juniors MVP who, according to his father, is leaning toward moving to Ateneo when he finishes his high school studies at FEU.

If Pingoy transfers to Ateneo for the coming school year, he will only be eligible to play for the Blue Eagles in 2015. But if he chooses to stay put at FEU, he can suit up in the league next season.

FEU had insisted that the younger Pingoy had already made a commitment to play for the Tamaraws in the form of a “signed document.”

However, there are no rules in the league that covers such agreements.

Ateneo and FEU both have officials who are members of the amendments committee in UAAP board members Em Fernandez and Anton Montinola.

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