For the first time in more than 16 years, active college basketball players are returning to a major video game.
On Wednesday, 2K Sports revealed 16 college additions for MyTeam and MyCareer mode in NBA 2K26, the first part of what is expected to be a larger college offering in future years. This pack, part of a “Season 5” release on Friday, includes current and former men’s and women’s players from Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Florida, Houston, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, UCLA, UConn, North Carolina, Kentucky and Texas.
MyTeam is a game mode where gamers collect cards to create fantasy teams and lineups. MyCareer is a single-player mode where a created player goes through high school, college and into the NBA.
Active players highlighted in the trailer released Wednesday include Duke men’s player Cameron Boozer and UCLA women’s player Lauren Betts. Alumni player cards announced include Kevin Durant (Texas) and Paige Bueckers (UConn), V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor), Marvin Bagley III (Duke), Jason Williams (Florida), Rip Hamilton (UConn), Breanna Stewart (UConn), Draymond Green (Michigan State) and Larry Brown (Kansas coach).
2K Sports said last year that more than 100 schools will be included in its eventual college experience, part of a larger basketball world with the NBA and WNBA. The plan has been for more college player options in 2027, but there has been no announcement of a standalone game, which 2K last published in 2008 but canceled due to poor sales.
“Authentically representing the scale of college hoops is an ambitious project that begins with our foundational college basketball experience available in early 2027,” 2K Sports said in a release. “We’ll have more details to share on that in the future.”
Last June, EA Sports teased that it would bring back a standalone college basketball game for the first time since 2009. However, in September, the company pulled back and told schools it would not make a new game, due to some schools accepting an offer to be in NBA 2K.
The Collegiate Licensing Company, which handles branding licenses for the vast majority of schools, put out its request for proposal for a basketball video game to developers in November 2024 following the record-breaking success of College Football 25. EA Sports was the only one to confirm it would include all Division I men’s and women’s teams that opted in, which would total 730 teams, as well as NIL money for players on each team in a standalone game. The proposal would’ve given “exclusive (action simulation) rights” for basketball to EA Sports. The CLC recommended that schools accept the EA Sports offer, which would’ve included game modes similar to College Football.
Instead, high-profile schools accepted a 2K offer, and that rollout has now begun.