← Back to the libraryYouth and Recruiting

How many players can a college basketball team have on its roster?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 17, 2026. Last updated October 17, 2026.

What is the roster limit in college basketball?

Fifteen players. Starting July 1, 2025, a men's basketball roster can have 15 players, per Sports Illustrated. Women's basketball also has a limit of 15, per WRHI. The roster limit applies to schools that opted in to the House settlement, per the NCAA.

What was the limit before the settlement?

Thirteen scholarships for men's basketball, not 13 roster spots. Alabama, for example, "was allowed to have a maximum of 13 scholarship players," per Sports Illustrated. Inside the Hall relayed the 13-to-15 change when conference commissioners finalized it in July 2024, per Inside the Hall.

The number 13 measured scholarships, and the current 15 measures every player on the roster.

What happened to scholarship limits?

They were removed. The NCAA said Division I rules "will no longer include sport-specific scholarship limits," and schools can offer a scholarship to any athlete on the roster, per the NCAA. A program can now put all 15 players on a full grant-in-aid. Revenue sharing is covered in the revenue sharing guide. How a player earns one is in the scholarship guide.

Who does not count against the limit?

Designated student-athletes. Current athletes with eligibility remaining whose roster spots would have been affected by the new limit received exceptions, and they "will not count toward that school's roster limits for the duration of their eligibility," per the NCAA. Their current or former school identifies them, and the exception follows the player to a new school.

So a team's actual number of players can be above 15 for a while. The exception lasts only for the duration of each athlete's eligibility, and a recruit cannot count on a program having one.

What happened to walk-ons?

They did not disappear, but their position changed. Reporting on the NCAA's June 2025 vote said many walk-ons could be replaced by fully funded athletes, and that teams would need to balance roster limits against resource constraints, per WRHI. The same report said the settlement protects current athletes' roster spots even if teams later shrink. A walk-on today is competing for one of 15 spots that a coach could fill with a scholarship player.

Does the same limit apply to women's basketball?

The number is the same, and the thing it counts is different. Women's basketball had a limit of 15 scholarships before the settlement and has a roster limit of 15 now, per WRHI. A women's recruit should read the figure the same way a men's recruit does: 15 spots, shared by every returning player, every transfer and every signee, with scholarships no longer capped by sport.

Do all schools have the limit?

Only schools that opted in to the settlement. The NCAA release says the roster limits apply to schools in the defendant conferences and other opt-in schools, and schools had until June 30, 2025 to opt in for 2025-26. A program outside the settlement is not bound by the limit. A recruit should ask each school whether it is an opt-in school before assuming the number is 15.

Why are roster spots hard to find?

Fifteen spots are shared by every returning player, every incoming freshman and every transfer.

• The portal. A coach can fill spots with transfers during a short window, as the transfer portal rules explain.
• Fifth-year players. A player with court-ordered eligibility still needs a spot, since the NCAA's chief legal officer said the roster limits "remain fully in effect," per Front Office Sports. The details are in the fifth-year article.
• The money. A school with a limited budget cannot pay 15 players equally, as the budget guide shows.

Here is how the count works in practice. Take a program with 11 players returning and two transfers already committed. That program has two spots left for the entire recruiting class, no matter how many scholarships it could afford. A recruit who gets an offer from that program is competing for one of two spots, and a coach with more than two offers out is relying on others saying no.

What does the limit mean for a recruit?

An offer is only as good as the spot behind it. Agents notice that families ask about the scholarship and skip the question of how many roster spots will open next year, even though a returning player or a portal transfer can take the spot the offer assumed.

Ask each coach these questions, and get the answers in an email:

• How many of the 15 spots are filled for next season, and by whom?
• Are any current players designated athletes outside the count?
• Is the offer for one year or for the full period of eligibility?
• What happens to the spot if the coach leaves?

Put the answers next to each school's pay and scholarship terms with the offer comparison method.

Whether a roster limit applies to one school depends on that school's status under the settlement, and its compliance office is the place to confirm it.