Not everybody grows up with a dream of playing sports. Some find out later on in life that they would like to head down that path of life, but others don’t realize until it’s too late. This is why we are going to discuss that very topic. How late is too late to play college basketball?
Luckily, there’s not a distinct age limit when it comes to competing in Division I, II, or III college basketball. However, there’s an eligibility requirement that must be met. Most schools would demand that you enroll into a college within one year of graduation from high school. If you take a few years off then attempt to go to college, most schools won’t let you play on their teams. If you head straight from high school to college, then you have up to four years to try and play college basketball.
It’s definitely confusing for many at first glance, though it really isn’t that difficult to understand once you get the hand of the eligibility rules and regulations.
Up To Four Years
Starting off by discussing this in the most basic of terms, you’d have up to four years to start playing basketball once you enroll in college after high school. Assuming you enroll within the eligibility time limit, then this would be the case. Most students exit high school around 19 years old, which means that they could be technically enrolled in college until the age of 23 and will be able to play college basketball at any point within that period. There are also other instances where college athletes can play until 24 or even 25. Though those cases are a little rarer than others.
It all depends upon the circumstances at hand. Sometimes, students are given an extra year due to circumstances that are beyond their control. COVID-19 was a big thing for students, because it basically took a year away from their athletic lives. Giving them another year let them play when they were a senior at 24, or 25. So, age isn’t really the main determining factor here. It’s that you have four years in college to make the most of it, and you can only extend that period if the NCAA grants it.
Don’t Wait On Enrollment
If you’re searching around on the internet for solutions on eligibility, the common answer that you’ll see is to stay on top of your college enrollment. For students that prefer to just take a few years off before getting into college, you won’t be eligible to play anymore. Let’s say that you graduate high school at 19, then realize at 22 years old that you want to play college sports. You enroll in college only to find out that you aren’t eligible to play for the team due to waiting too long on your enrollment. You’d still be within the right age requirement, though you aren’t allowed to play.
It’s not uncommon for many young students to miss this part of playing college basketball. Most believe that you are always able to just show up and play as long as you’re enrolled in some type of college, but that’s not the case. The NCAA is notoriously strict when it comes to how and when students are able to play for their specific schools.
Academic Requirements
On top of the age/eligibility requirements, you’d also have to be great in school. For example, you could be 23 years old as a senior in college. You haven’t played college basketball yet, but you know that you meet the eligibility requirements and are still enrolled. You might think that you’d absolutely be able to try and get on the team. However, you didn’t really try much in school, and get denied off academics to your surprise. Believe it or not, schools do in fact care about how much effort you put into your grades. One requirement that Division I schools have is that you must have a GPA over 2.3.
Another requirement in this same vein is that the student has to complete at least 16 core classes before they can sign up. Not to mention that they’d have to earn SAT and ACT scores once they get into college and be able to show them to their coaches. So, don’t wait until it’s too late to get ahead with your academics, you never know if you might be wanting to get into sports down the line.
The Exceptions
There are exceptions that we mentioned earlier which let you extend the time limit for you to participate in college basketball. Among those requirements are if you are pregnant, have military service, have taken an internship, or are potentially studying abroad. These are the basic listings that the NCAA has, though they still demand to hear your entire situation before coming to a decision on granting you that extra year exception.
If you’re thinking that you can just get an exception later on down the line and walk on despite missing the eligibility requirements, then you’d be wrong. It takes a lot to get an exception these days, and it isn’t as easy as just submitting an application to extend your time frame to get on the court. Plus, the exception is only one extra year, and it doesn’t last forever. The timeframe will still be relatively small for you later on down the line to play college sports.
Divisions Have Differing Requirements
If you’re familiar with college sports, you would know that there are different divisions to get into. There’s the top-of-the-line schools at Division I, then Division II, and wrapped up by Division III. All three of these divisions offer tougher requirements, so you’d have a tighter window to play college basketball depending on which school you want to play for. Luckily, you’d have the largest window of opportunity with a Division III school. This is mostly due to their lack of competition at their level, and lack of overall notoriety in the college sports world.
It’s very important to keep track of which type of division you are getting into when you plan on enrolling into college. While there seems to be ample opportunities for you to start playing college basketball up until you are 24 years old, there are still chances that you miss that window.