I suspect this has been covered here but I didn't see it.


Starting in the 2025-26 season, NCAA Division I men's basketball teams will have a roster limit of 15 players and be able to offer 15 scholarships, moving from the current 13 scholarship limit and becoming an equivalency sport.
Here's a more detailed explanation:

Current Situation:
Currently, NCAA Division I men's basketball teams are allowed to have 13 scholarship players and can add additional walk-ons.

New Rules (2025-26):
Starting in the 2025-26 season, the roster and scholarship limit will increase to 15 players.

Equivalency Sport:
Basketball will be classified as an equivalency sport, meaning coaches can decide how to split those 15 scholarships into partial or full awards for their recruits.

No More Headcount Sports:
The NCAA is removing the concept of headcount sports, meaning all sports will be considered equivalency sports.
Implications:
This change allows coaches more flexibility in how they allocate their scholarship pool, potentially offering a mix of full and partial scholarships.

Does this help or hurt Cal recruiting? Personally I would rather mot stack the roster to 20 or whatever it was this season, with a bunch of practice squad guys in sweats who we'll never see in action. Focus resources on the 10 guys who will carry us to wins, not the sons of NBA stars (Marbury) who are there through name only.
Just confirmed on the stat sheet that only 10 Bears played 7 games or more, and of those 10, 1 played less than 7 min a game (Mahoney). So we're really talking about 9 guys. Make those 9 great next year, forget about a 20-man roster.

Bingo

concordtom said:

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This is (imho) simply a move to let the bigger programs get bigger and concentrate talent on this richest squads. It allows the schools to pay for tuition room and board. And it's up to the alumni network to come up with NIL money. Shuts out the smaller schools.

Same as the conference realignments and the football playoffs. SEC and Big10 want 3 or 4 teams in an expanded playoffs.

The rich get richer is bad for exciting competition.

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concordtom said:

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This is (imho) simply a move to let the bigger programs get bigger and concentrate talent on this richest squads. It allows the schools to pay for tuition room and board. And it's up to the alumni network to come up with NIL money. Shuts out the smaller schools.

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For basketball, the two keys for a good coaching staff will be identifying and recruiting good players from the portal, and being able to get a team full of guys who will only be with you a season or two to play well together.

Every school's AD (and/or basketball GM) will need to take a hard look at their coaching staff and ask whether their coaches are doing both of those things well, because coaches that don't do both of those things well are not going to be successful now.

The combination of NIL, larger scholarship pools, media coverage, and bias in post-season selection will effectively kill the mid major schools. I hate it. Really dislike inequity in any endeavor or organization--especially athletics where the goal is supposed to be sportsmanship, respect, fair play, and objectivity.

blungld said:

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The combination of NIL, larger scholarship pools, media coverage, and bias in post-season selection will effectively kill the mid major schools. I hate it. Really dislike inequity in any endeavor or organization--especially athletics where the goal is supposed to be sportsmanship, respect, fair play, and objectivity.

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You left out Money, glory, Money, ego, Money, endorsements and Money.