Approximately 10 weeks ago I spoke with numerous college coaches, GMs and agents to get a temperature check on what, at that point out in Las Vegas, felt like an inevitability. With the 2026 NBA Draft in the rearview mirror — combined alongside the NCAA's new age-based rule permitting all Division I athletes to play five seasons in five years, starting with the 2026-27 season — there would likely be a flock of players spending a few weeks in the Summer League lifestyle, only to double back and try to sue their way into one more year of college basketball. As we're about to turn the calendar to October, that's precisely what has predictably played out.
There are approximately a dozen ongoing state-based lawsuits involving athletes across the country (plenty of whom aren't even basketball players) trying to get judges to supersede the NCAA's assailable rulebook. If successful, these court cases will award super-seniors one more year's worth of earning power to rake in huge paydays. The success rate/number of players that win out in these lawsuits is still one huge TBD.
We could get some clarity in October, but sources around the sport told CBS Sports in recent days that there's a growing concern that eligibility cases are going to linger weeks, if not months, after the season tips on Nov. 1. The air of uncertainty might also feed another curiosity among college basketball fans. If you weren't aware, Tuesday marks the start of NBA training camps.
All 30 NBA teams are allowed as many as 21 players to be rostered in the preseason. Do the math and that caps out at 630 players. With the NBA's regular-season rosters maxing out at 15 players (plus as many as three two-way contracts) by Oct. 19, that leaves 90-plus players fated to getting cut in a few weeks, with the majority of them headed to the G League.
That, then, begs an obvious question: Is college basketball about to get another spate of guys who try to boomerang back after not making an NBA roster? In talking to a variety of sources at the NBA and college level in the past two weeks, the answer appears to be no, for a few very big reasons. The first being: college athletes still have to, you know, actually be enrolled in college classes. (What a concept!) Given that almost every player on an NBA training camp roster has their sights set on making the league and pursuing a post-college career, these guys (barring maybe an odd outlier or two) are no longer enrolled in college.
The deadline to be enrolled (and therefore eligible) at the overwhelming majority of Division I institutions already elapsed earlier this month. As one person put it to me, if there were, say, 5-10 players trying to make an NBA roster but who also had their agents working backup plans and parachute exits to college, word would be out by now on said players. That hasn't been in the air, and with good reason: If you reach the point of making an NBA training camp in October, you're probably close enough to the ultimate goal.
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