List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career games played leaders
In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the statistic for total games played in Division I men's basketball helps opposing coaches to monitor the extent that a particular player is used on a team. By definition, a player has "played in a game" when he enters the contest via substitution or by starting the contest. All that is required is that he is one of the five players for a team on the court for a minimal time of one second according to the game clock.[citation needed]
Through the 2023–24 season, the all-time leader in games played is Jordan Bohannon, who played six seasons at Iowa and appeared in 179 games.[1] Bohannon benefited from two special provisions of NCAA rules that allowed him to play in more than the standard four seasons.
Normally, the only way for a player to play in more than four NCAA seasons is to qualify for a "medical redshirt", officially known by the NCAA as a "hardship waiver". To be eligible, a player must have participated in fewer than one third of his team's scheduled games in that season, and cannot have participated in any games in the second half of the season.[2] Bohannon received a medical redshirt in 2019–20, a season in which he played 10 games. Several other players on the career leaders list benefited from this rule. Bohannon also benefited from a special NCAA eligibility waiver for the 2020–21 season, which was so heavily disrupted by COVID-19 that the NCAA announced it would not count that season against any player's period of eligibility.[3] He chose to play a final season in 2021–22.[4]
The overall top 25 is completely occupied by players who were active in the 2020–21 season and benefited from the COVID-19 waiver. The last players eligible to take advantage of this waiver will not complete their college eligibility until 2024–25, not counting any potential medical redshirt season in 2021–22 or later. For this reason, a separate list consisting solely of players who did not benefit from the waiver is being maintained.
Includes ties for 25th.
David Lighty has the most all-time games among pre-COVID era players.Przemek Karnowski played in 152 games between 2012 and 2017.Darius Miller, who also played in 152 games, is tied for first among players who participated in the standard four seasons.
^Wolfe got injured in his sophomore season at Lipscomb and used a medical redshirt after appearing in just 9 games.
^Although Coleman-Lands' career has spanned seven seasons, he has only played in six. He played from 2015–2017 at Illinois before transferring to DePaul, sitting out the 2017–18 season due to then-current NCAA transfer regulations. He then received a medical redshirt season in 2018–19, and played the full 2019–20 season at DePaul. Coleman-Lands then received a sixth season of eligibility from the NCAA for 2020–21, playing at Iowa State, and then transferred to Kansas, taking advantage of the NCAA's COVID-19 eligibility waiver.
^Although Goodwin's career has spanned six seasons, he has only played in five. He played at Charleston in the 2016–17 season before transferring to Wofford, sitting out the 2017–18 season due to then-current NCAA transfer regulations. After graduating from Wofford in 2020, Goodwin transferred to USC and was immediately eligible to play as a graduate transfer.
^Allen got injured in his senior season at Ole Miss and used a medical redshirt after appearing in just 8 games.
^Although Lightfoot's career has spanned six seasons, he has only played in five. He played no games as a redshirt in the 2019–20 season.
^Brown got injured in his senior season at Cal State Northridge and used a medical redshirt after appearing in just 8 games.
^Although Burns' career spanned five seasons, he only played in four. He redshirted his true freshman season at Tennessee in 2018–19 without playing in a game before transferring to Winthrop in 2019–20.
^Although Davis' career spanned six seasons, he only played in five. He redshirted his true freshman season at Alabama in 2018–19 without playing in a game.
^Although Carr's career spanned six seasons, he only played in five. He played at Pittsburgh in the 2017–18 season before transferring to Minnesota, sitting out the 2018–19 season due to then-current NCAA transfer regulations. He spent two more seasons at Minnesota before transferring to Texas, where he took advantage of the COVID-19 blanket waiver and played as a graduate student.
^Although Gasser's career spanned five seasons, he only played in four. He played no games as a redshirt in the 2012–13 season.
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