Play / College basketball career

College basketball career

Basketball Career lets you play a college basketball career as part of a whole pro career, free in your browser. You recruit, commit, play, chase a national title and decide when to leave for the Pro Draft. Every school is fictional; the path is the real American one.

From recruit to commit

• Grassroots summer circuit. A shoe-company travel team wants you for the summer, and every college coach in the country is watching.
• Official visits. Several programs fly you in. Your rating, your summer and your home state decide who offers; in-state schools like you more.
• All-American Game. The best recruits get the national high school showcase on TV.
• Reclassify? Graduate early and start college a year younger.
• Recruiting decision. Each offer shows your role, the program's level and its title chances, so you can pick playing time or a contender.

Life in college

• NIL. Endorsement deals, and booster collectives that offer a big NIL package to get you to transfer.
• The transfer portal. At the end of each college season you can stay, enter the portal for a better program, or (when eligible) declare for the draft.
• Grades and scandals. Slipping grades can make you ineligible, and a coach under investigation can bring a postseason ban.
• March. The national tournament decides the college title.

One-and-done or four years?

Men can declare for the Pro Draft after one college season, at 19. If scouts project you in the lottery, the game asks the one-and-done question directly. Staying can grow your rating and win you a title, but draft stock drops with every year you wait, so a year older costs you spots on the board.

Women follow the women's rules: you're draft-eligible once you turn 22 or finish four years. See the women's basketball career guide.

College is capped at four seasons. After the fourth, the draft comes whether you're ready or not.

Skipping college

On the men's side you don't have to go to college at all. The overseas route and the development league pay you while you wait to turn draft-eligible. See the draft guide for what happens next.

More guides

• How to play: Stories, playstyles, paces, decisions and tips
• Men's basketball career: One-and-done, the draft lottery, supermax deals and the playoffs
• Women's basketball career: Four years of college, a three-round draft and winters overseas
• Hall of Fame score: How your 0 to 100 legacy score is calculated
• Daily Draft and Weekly challenge: One shared career a day, one a week, with leaderboards
• The Pro Draft: Eligibility, the lottery, rookie deals and going undrafted
• Games like BitLife for basketball: How Basketball Career compares
• Career stories: All 8 starting stories and how to play each one
• Leaderboard: Today's and this week's best Hall of Fame scores
• Achievements: Every achievement and what it unlocks

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