Data study · 2020–21 to 2025–26
The D1 roster limit of 15: what changed on college basketball rosters
D1 programs listed an average of 15.4 players in 2025–26, the first season under the 15-player limit, against 15.8 in 2024–25 — a move of −0.3 players, where the average had moved by 0.3 a season over the 4 seasons before. 54% of D1 programs listed more than 15 in 2024–25; 41% did in 2025–26. Over the same year D2 rosters moved −0.2 and D3 rosters moved 0.0.
Computed from 93,871 player-seasons · 2020–21 to 2025–26 · updated Sep 17, 2026
2025–26 is the largest single-season drop in D1 roster size in the window.
The D1 average went 15.0 in 2020–21, 15.3 in 2021–22, 15.1 in 2022–23, 15.4 in 2023–24, 15.8 in 2024–25, 15.4 in 2025–26. Before 2025–26 the biggest year-to-year move was 0.35 players and the biggest fall 0.14; 2025–26 moved −0.32.
41% of D1 programs list more than 15 players in 2025–26.
In 2024–25 it was 54% (190 of 355 programs). In 2025–26, 147 of 359 programs list more than 15, 34% list exactly 15 and 25% list fewer. A roster page lists who the school shows, which can differ from who counts against the limit and can be partial early in a season.
D2 and D3, which the limit does not touch, moved less than D1 between 2024–25 and 2025–26.
D2 programs averaged 16.1 listed players in 2024–25 and 15.9 in 2025–26 (−0.2), with the share listing more than 15 going from 51% to 51%; D3 programs averaged 17.6 listed players in 2024–25 and 17.6 in 2025–26 (0.0), with the share listing more than 15 going from 77% to 71%; at D1 that share went from 54% to 41%. The control is what makes the D1 number readable as the rule's effect rather than a change in how schools publish rosters.
Average listed roster, by division and season
The vertical line the reader should draw is at 2025–26, the first season under the D1 limit. Exact values are in the tables below.
| 2024–25 | 2025–26 | Difference | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 · average listed roster | 15.8 | 15.4 | −0.3 |
| D2 · average listed roster | 16.1 | 15.9 | −0.2 |
| D3 · average listed roster | 17.6 | 17.6 | 0.0 |
Listed roster size at D1 programs · 2020–21 to 2025–26
D1, season by season| Season | Programs | Listed players | Average | Median | More than 15 | Exactly 15 | Fewer than 15 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020–21 | 358 | 5,377 | 15.0 | 15.0 | 37% | 25% | 38% |
| 2021–22 | 357 | 5,455 | 15.3 | 15.0 | 39% | 26% | 34% |
| 2022–23 | 355 | 5,376 | 15.1 | 15.0 | 37% | 30% | 32% |
| 2023–24 | 356 | 5,484 | 15.4 | 15.0 | 42% | 31% | 26% |
| 2024–25 | 355 | 5,592 | 15.8 | 16.0 | 54% | 26% | 20% |
| 2025–26 | 359 | 5,540 | 15.4 | 15.0 | 41% | 34% | 25% |
Average listed roster by division · 2024–25 against 2025–26
The control| Division | Programs (2025–26) | Average 2024–25 | Average 2025–26 | Change | More than 15, 2024–25 | More than 15, 2025–26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 359 | 15.8 | 15.4 | −0.3 | 54% | 41% |
| D2 | 276 | 16.1 | 15.9 | −0.2 | 51% | 51% |
| D3 | 403 | 17.6 | 17.6 | 0.0 | 77% | 71% |
The rule, and what a roster can and cannot see
From the 2025–26 season, Division I men's basketball rosters are limited to 15 players under the NCAA's House settlement roster limits. Before that a D1 program had 13 scholarships and no roster limit, so programs could and did list more players than they had scholarships for. The settlement also let a program keep players who were already on its roster before the limit took effect, so a 2025–26 roster above 15 is not a breach of it — which is why the share above 15 fell rather than vanished.
The rosters this page reads are the ones schools publish. They count listed players, not scholarships: a roster cannot say who is on aid, and it can be partial early in a season or include a player who never counts against the limit. That is why the page reports what programs LIST and compares it with the seasons before, rather than claiming to audit the rule.
Why the seasons before matter
A single before-and-after comparison can be a change in how schools publish rosters as much as a change in the sport. The window here runs 2020–21 to 2025–26: D1 programs listed 15.0 players on average in 2020–21, and the average moved by 0.3 players a season up to 2024–25. Against that, 2025–26 moved −0.3.
D2 and D3 are the second check: the limit does not apply to them, so if their rosters moved by the same amount the D1 number would be telling a different story. D2 moved −0.2, D3 moved 0.0.
What this means if you are being recruited
How to read itA D1 roster is 15.4 listed players on average now, not 15.8.
That is 0.3 fewer spots per program than a year earlier, across 359 programs. The spots that went were the ones beyond the limit — the places walk-ons and late additions used to fill.
34% of D1 programs sit exactly at 15.
A program at the limit has no spot until one opens. The school pages on this site show each program's listed roster and its class-year mix, which is where an opening comes from.
D2 and D3 rosters are not under this limit.
D2 programs list 15.9 players on average; D3 programs list 17.6 players on average. A recruit reading the D1 change as a reason to look lower should read the level pages first: the level, not the roster count, is the fit question.
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Methodology
Source · sample · scope93,871 player-seasons · 1,060 programs · 2020–21 to 2025–26
Definitions and scope
- Source
- Official rosters published by the athletics sites of 1,060 NCAA D1, D2 and D3 men's programs, 2020–21 to 2025–26, collected by Depth Chart.
- Sample
- 93,871 roster lines across 6 seasons, at programs listing at least 8 players. 45 program-seasons listing fewer are treated as partial pages and excluded. A division with fewer than 30 qualifying programs in a season would not be shown.
- Roster size
- The number of players a program's roster page lists for that season. Listed players, not scholarships: the rosters cannot see who is on aid.
- Seasons
- The repo's season is its end year: 2025–26 is the season that began in 2025. 2025–26 is the first season under the D1 limit; the seasons before it are the comparison.
- The rule
- The NCAA's House settlement roster limits, in force from 2025–26: 15 players on a Division I men's basketball roster. This page states the rule as context and measures nothing about it directly.
- Limits
- A roster page can be partial early in a season and can list a player who does not count against the limit. The change is read against the seasons before and against D2 and D3, not asserted from one pair of numbers.
- Computed
- Sep 17, 2026 · methodology 2026-08-28.1
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