Data study · 2025–26 season
How many freshmen are on a college basketball roster? Class breakdown and turnover by division
No single class dominates every level — 27.0% of a D1 roster and 29.7% of a D3 roster is in year one, and about 30.0% of a D1 roster is in its final season. Roster spots also change hands beyond graduation: the median 2025–26 roster was 64.3% new at D1, and 42.3% of the previous season's D1 underclassmen were still on the same roster a year later.
Computed from 16,153 player-seasons · 2024–25 to 2025–26 · updated Aug 31, 2026
The class mix differs by level.
D1: 27.0% freshmen, 30.0% in their final year. D2: 28.9% freshmen, 23.1% in their final year. D3: 29.7% freshmen, 21.4% in their final year.
Roster spots open on a schedule — before anyone transfers.
30.0% of D1 players are seniors or graduate students, 23.1% of D2 players are seniors or graduate students, 21.4% of D3 players are seniors or graduate students — final seasons that end on time, every year, at every program.
Making a roster is not the same as keeping it.
At D1, of 3,234 underclassmen listed one season, 42.3% were on the same roster the next, 36.2% surfaced at another college, and 21.5% were on no roster we hold. At D2, of 2,168 underclassmen listed one season, 47.5% were on the same roster the next, 17.7% surfaced at another college, and 34.8% were on no roster we hold. At D3, of 2,926 underclassmen listed one season, 60.9% were on the same roster the next, 4.8% surfaced at another college, and 34.2% were on no roster we hold.
Who sits on a roster, by class year
D1
n = 5,320
D2
n = 4,366
D3
n = 6,467
Bars are scaled to the largest class within each division; exact shares are in the table below.
Class-year share of listed rosters, by division · 2025–26
| Division | Freshmen | Sophomores | Juniors | Seniors | Graduate students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 27.0% | 20.6% | 22.4% | 21.1% | 8.9% |
| D2 | 28.9% | 19.1% | 28.9% | 20.0% | 3.2% |
| D3 | 29.7% | 23.9% | 25.1% | 20.0% | 1.4% |
What happened to last season's freshmen, sophomores and juniors · programs listed both seasons · 2025–26
| Division | Programs | Underclassmen | Same roster next year | Another college | Not on any roster we hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 335 | 3,234 | 42.3% | 36.2% | 21.5% |
| D2 | 250 | 2,168 | 47.5% | 17.7% | 34.8% |
| D3 | 324 | 2,926 | 60.9% | 4.8% | 34.2% |
What this means if you're being recruited
The class-year mix is the quiet math of recruiting. 27.0% of a D1 roster is first-year players, and between 21.4% (D3) and 30.0% (D1) of a roster is in its final season, depending on the level — so a program does not have to want you specifically to need someone at your position; it has seats emptying on a schedule. Ask any coach how many players they are losing this spring, and you will usually get a number close to what this table predicts.
The harder number is retention. 42.3% of D1 underclassmen were still on the same roster a season later — the rest moved on, moved down, or left college basketball as far as our rosters can see. A roster spot is a season-by-season arrangement, not a four-year promise, and that cuts both ways: it is why depth charts open up mid-cycle, and why the fit question matters more than the offer question.
See where you fit — free
Your profile, scored against every program in this data. The free Market Preview takes six minutes and needs no card.
Methodology
Source · sample · scope16,153 player-seasons · 1,060 programs · 2024–25 to 2025–26
Definitions and scope
- Source
- Official 2025–26 rosters published by the athletics sites of 1,060 NCAA D1, D2 and D3 men's programs, collected by Depth Chart, compared against the season before.
- Class years
- As listed by the school. 46 distinct spellings were normalised to five classes; a redshirt counts under the class the roster names, and fifth- or sixth-year players count as graduate students. 214 player-seasons with a missing or unreadable class label are excluded from the shares, never guessed.
- Turnover
- The share of a roster not on the same program's roster the season before, and what became of last season's freshmen, sophomores and juniors. Computed only over programs we hold at roster strength (8+ listed players) in both seasons, so a program our collection missed one year cannot read as a roster that emptied.
- “Not on any roster we hold”
- Means exactly that. A player who moved to junior college, NAIA, overseas, or left basketball looks the same to us as one whose identity we failed to match across seasons — so this column is an upper bound on leaving, not a measured exit rate.
- Sample
- 16,153 player-seasons with a readable class year on 2025–26 rosters for the composition; 29,281 player-seasons across 909 both-season programs for the turnover.
- Computed
- Aug 31, 2026 · methodology 2026-08-28.1
Share this study
On a phone, Share… opens your share sheet — Instagram, TikTok, Messages.
Related
from the same data- Data study
What the transfer portal actually did to college basketball recruiting
The share of returning college players who changed school went from 11.6% in 2021–22 to 23.7% in 2025–26. But the portal is mostly lateral: of that season's moves, 75.4% were between programs at the same level, 15.2% went down one and 9.4% went up. Computed from 74,740 player-seasons on 2021–22 to 2025–26 rosters. - Data study
The state of high-school-to-college basketball, 2026
4,209 players made an NCAA roster for the first time in 2025–26, 7.8 per 1,000 high-school players; 42% play in their home state; 24.2% of returning players changed school. Eight chapters from the rosters of 1,060 programs. - Data study
Which college basketball programs have the most roster turnover? New players and early departures, by program
955 NCAA programs ranked by the share of their 2025–26 roster that was not on it in 2024–25: the median is 64% new in D1, 54% in D2, 44% in D3; 572 programs replaced half or more; 49% of last season's underclassmen did not return to the same roster.