Data study · 2026–27 season
How many freshmen are on a college basketball roster? Class breakdown and turnover by division
No single class dominates every level — 25.7% of a D1 roster and 25.7% of a D3 roster is in year one, and about 27.0% of a D1 roster is in its final season. Roster spots also change hands beyond graduation: the median 2026–27 roster was 66.7% new at D1, and 44.8% of the previous season's D1 underclassmen were still on the same roster a year later.
Computed from 13,095 player-seasons · 2025–26 to 2026–27 · updated Oct 15, 2026
The class mix differs by level.
D1: 25.7% freshmen, 27.0% in their final year. D2: 28.6% freshmen, 24.4% in their final year. D3: 25.7% freshmen, 22.9% in their final year.
Roster spots open on a schedule — before anyone transfers.
27.0% of D1 players are seniors or graduate students, 24.4% of D2 players are seniors or graduate students, 22.9% 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 3,712 underclassmen listed one season, 44.8% were on the same roster the next, 40.9% surfaced at another college, and 14.2% were on no roster we hold. At D2, of 3,126 underclassmen listed one season, 58.4% were on the same roster the next, 15.6% surfaced at another college, and 25.9% were on no roster we hold. At D3, of 2,912 underclassmen listed one season, 75.3% were on the same roster the next, 3.3% surfaced at another college, and 21.4% were on no roster we hold.
Who sits on a roster, by class year
D1
n = 5,236
D2
n = 4,187
D3
n = 3,672
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 · 2026–27
| Division | Freshmen | Sophomores | Juniors | Seniors | Graduate students |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 25.7% | 23.3% | 24.0% | 22.7% | 4.3% |
| D2 | 28.6% | 20.5% | 26.5% | 21.4% | 3.0% |
| D3 | 25.7% | 26.8% | 24.6% | 21.6% | 1.3% |
What happened to last season's freshmen, sophomores and juniors · programs listed both seasons · 2026–27
| Division | Programs | Underclassmen | Same roster next year | Another college | Not on any roster we hold |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | 351 | 3,712 | 44.8% | 40.9% | 14.2% |
| D2 | 258 | 3,126 | 58.4% | 15.6% | 25.9% |
| D3 | 207 | 2,912 | 75.3% | 3.3% | 21.4% |
What this means if you're being recruited
The class-year mix is the quiet math of recruiting. 25.7% of a D1 roster is first-year players, and between 22.9% (D3) and 27.0% (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. 44.8% 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.
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Methodology
Source · sample · scope13,095 player-seasons · 1,060 programs · 2025–26 to 2026–27
Definitions and scope
- Source
- Official 2026–27 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. 577 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
- 13,095 player-seasons with a readable class year on 2026–27 rosters for the composition; 26,564 player-seasons across 816 both-season programs for the turnover.
- Computed
- Oct 15, 2026 · methodology 2026-08-28.1
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