Basketball at the Top Colleges

Athlete RecruitmentNCAA SportsNCAA Division 1NCAA Division 3
Written By Donna Meyer

For both men and women, basketball is by far the most popular sport played in the NCAA at the highly selective colleges. Except for the 2 women’s only colleges, the rest of the remaining 59 of the 61 colleges play men’s basketball and all 61 colleges play women’s basketball with a total of 1,772 players across both genders.

Of the 59 colleges with men’s basketball, 29 of them belong in Division 1 with 497 players and 30 of them belong in Division 3 with 464 players, totaling 961 players altogether in the 2021/2022 season.

Of the 61 colleges with women’s basketball, 31 of them belong in Division 1 with total of 427 players, and the remaining 30 colleges belong in Division 3 with a total of 384 players, together making a total of 811 women players.

Men’s Basketball NCAA Rules and Calendar for Athlete Recruitment

Women’s Basketball NCAA Rules and Calendar for Athlete Recruitment

How do top colleges in Division 1 select their athlete recruits?

Athlete Recruitment to a Top NCAA Division 3 College

List of Highly Selective Colleges with Basketball Teams

Below is a list of the colleges that play basketball and the NCAA they belong in.

All data is compiled directly from the colleges’ athletic websites

Basketball at Highly Selective Colleges
Men's Women's
DivisionBasketballBasketball
Amherst CollegeIIIYesYes
Babson CollegeIIIYesYes
Barnard College (comb w/ Columbia University)INoYes
BatesIIIYesYes
Boston CollegeIYesYes
Boston UniversityIYesYes
Bowdoin CollegeIIIYesYes
Brown UniversityIYesYes
California Institute of Technology IIIYesYes
Carleton CollegeIIIYesYes
Carnegie Mellon University IIIYesYes
Claremont McKenna College (incl Harvey Mudd)IIIYesYes
Colby College IIIYesYes
Colgate University IYesYes
Colorado CollegeIIIYesYes
Columbia University (incl Barnard College)IYesYes
Cornell UniversityIYesYes
Dartmouth CollegeIYesYes
Davidson CollegeIYesYes
Duke UniversityIYesYes
Emory UniversityIIIYesYes
Georgetown University IYesYes
Georgia Institute of TechnologyIYesYes
Grinnell College IIIYesYes
Hamilton CollegeIIIYesYes
Harvard UniversityIYesYes
Harvey Mudd College (comb w/ Claremont McKenna)IIIYesYes
Haverford CollegeIIIYesYes
John Hopkins University IIIYesYes
Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyIIIYesYes
Middleburry CollegeIIIYesYes
Northeastern UniversityIYesYes
Northwestern University IYesYes
New York UniversityIIIYesYes
Pitzer College IIIYesYes
Pomona College (incl Pitzer College)IIIYesYes
Princeton University IYesYes
Rice University IYesYes
Stanford University IYesYes
Swarthmore College IIIYesYes
Tufts University IIIYesYes
Tulane University IYesYes
University of California BerkeleyIYesYes
University of California Los AngelesIYesYes
University of Michigan IYesYes
University of Chicago IIIYesYes
University of North Carolina - Chapel HillI YesYes
University of Notre Dame IYesYes
University of Pennsylvania IYesYes
University of Southern California IYesYes
University of Virginia IYesYes
Vanderbilt University IYesYes
Vassar College IIIYesYes
Villanova UniversityIYesYes
Wake Forest UniversityIYesYes
Washington and Lee University IIIYesYes
Washington University in St. LouisIIIYesYes
Wellesley CollegeIIINoYes
Wesleyan UniversityIIIYesYes
Williams CollegeIIIYesYes
Yale University IYesYes
Total Players961811
Donna Meyer

Donna is the founder of X Factor Admissions and the popular blog Fencing Parents , the single most important reference source for college bound fencers interested in athlete recruitment. In preparation of her sons’ applications to college, she spent years learning the intricacies of college admissions, consulted with a variety of admissions experts, and talked to admissions officers, NCAA coaches and many parents. She is a firm believer in data, and she uses it extensively to gain insight into the college admissions process. She sees that there is method in the madness.

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