Buoyed by the commencement of the pay-to-play era, key coaching changes and player off-season transfer portal transactions, as well as commitments from a talented high school class, a record 170 Canadian basketball players are set to suit up for the 2024-25 NCAA men’s college basketball season.
It’s a massive increase from the 135 men’s players which were on official rosters at the beginning of the 2023-24 season. The previous all-time high mark was set five years ago, when 161 players were on official college basketball rosters during the 2020-21 season.
Led by the reclassification of 17-year-old stud Will Riley and ten high-major commits, from the much-talked-about 2024 Canadian high school class delivered an astonishing, never-before-seen 47 NCAA Division I scholarships, surpassing last year’s total of 31 and 34 from just two seasons ago.
The removal of amateurism from the college game and the introduction of pay-to-play led to a flurry of transactions across the transfer portal, as players followed the NIL collective money train. This resulted in a total of 52 out of 72 combined entries from NCAA Division I teams and various feeder development leagues.
U SPORTS to NCAA: New recruiting battleground
Tapping into one of the remaining hidden gems left in the country and reversing a long-term trend, a record nine U Sports basketball players made the leap from Canadian universities to NCAA Division I hoops. That number is way up from previous years, as this outstanding research shows. Previously, only eight U SPORTS players had ever moved up to play NCAA Division I basketball.
This number is expected to continue to rise as more and more NCAA teams from down south look to poach experienced talent during the off-season. In contrast, only two players went from the NCAA to U Sports, compared to seven in 2023 and ten that transferred the opposite way in 2022.
Continuing to tell the story that progression is not always linear and that it’s not always Division I or bust straight out of high school, the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), better known as the JUCO route, and NCAA Division II saw six and five players, respectively, make the leap to Division I basketball.
Teams breakdown – The Smart NCAA effect
When it was announced that former Carleton Ravens all-time great Dave Smart had taken the head coach position with the Pacific Tigers, you knew it would immediately impact the landscape of U Sports men’s basketball recruiting.
In the three months since accepting the position, Smart has brought on one of the most respected minds in the Canadian university game, former Victoria Vikes head coach Craig Beaucamp, who joined him as an assistant coach.
In need of players to complete his roster, Smart dialed up his old connections and snatched up two quality U Sports prospects with size, shooting, and the ability to put it on the deck: Elias Ralph and Andrew McKenna. His staff was active in the transfer portal, securing NCAA journeymen Elijah Fisher, in what should be an interesting experiment, as well as former high school standout Jefferson Koulibaly.
Spreading the butter like breakfast toast, there are 124 teams featuring a Canadian player on the roster, and 28 teams have multiple players with connections to the north. The Maine Black Bears (3.0%), with five players, lead the list. The Pacific Tigers (2.4%) and Buffalo Bulls (2.4%) follow with four each, and nine teams (1.8%) have three or more players from Canada.
2024-25 Canadian NCAA men’s basketball list – (Subscribers only)
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City breakdown & analysis
As the demographics, population growth, and economics of Canada continue to evolve, the impacts of immigration and the housing shortage have prompted families to seek opportunities in cities beyond the major five.
Reflecting on these new realities and trends, the City of Calgary, which was hardly on the map as a major NCAA basketball destination five years ago, and one of the biggest risers in population in the last five major censuses, now stands as the hometown with the third most Canadian NCAA players, with ten (6.2%) players, behind only Toronto and Montreal.
Once again, Toronto (13.9%) holds steady as the city with the most Canadian NCAA players, with 23 players. A slight decline continues for the city of Montreal for the second straight year, from 14.1% to 11.5%, with 19 players this season. Brampton and Ottawa also see a slight uptick, with ten and eight players, respectively, representing these cities on the NCAA hardwood.
Provincial breakdown & analysis
While the breakdown and analysis of a players’ hometown may be a little more scattered at times, as they tend to change their home cities more frequently, the provincial/state charts of the NCAA players’ home provinces usually tell a more accurate picture of where the players are coming from.
While the breakdown and analysis of a player’s hometown may be a little more scattered at times, as the data tends to change or get corrected more frequently, the provincial/state chart of the Canadian NCAA players’ home provinces usually provides a more accurate picture of where the players are coming from.
The numbers continue to be staggering for the province of Ontario, with 58.6% percent, or 99 of the 170 players, hailing from Canada’s biggest province. Quebec, with 28 players, holds on to second place, and Alberta joins the double-digit ranks with 16 players from the Rocky Mountain province.
According to the most recent Stats Canada’s population estimates, Alberta has been the fastest-growing province or territory for the four straight quarters with high levels of international interprovincial migration.
Class breakdown & analysis
The freshman class remains the leading source of Canadian NBA talent. Last season, Swiss-Canadian Kyshawn George became the most recent Canadian to be drafted following a one-and-done NCAA season.
He joins an impressive list of players including Cory Joseph, Tristan Thompson, Anthony Bennett, Tyler Ennis, Andrew Wiggins, Trey Lyles, Jamal Murray, Ignas Brazdeikis, RJ Barrett, Joshua Primo, and Caleb Houstan who need just one year to make the leap to the big league.
Projected as a potential 2025 NBA lottery pick, six-foot-eight forward Will Riley aims to add to this tally as he enters what is expected to be his lone season under Brad Underwood with the Fighting Illini.
The talented freshman class of 2024 will be prominently showcased, featuring 48 new players along with four red-shirt freshmen from the previous season. The senior class includes 40 players plus 16 graduate students. Additionally, there are 37 junior players and 25 sophomores.
Of the nine U Sports transfers, only one was an underclassman (Andrew McKenna); the other eight will start their NCAA careers as upperclassmen, bringing solid experience with them.
Conference breakdown & analysis
Not to be outdone by the transfer portal movement, the titanic shift of teams between conferences has also reached a point of no return. As conferences and teams evaluate exiting fees against projected media-rights revenues to form new power conferences.
A total of 23 teams are set to join new conferences for the 2024-25 season, with the Pac-12 experiencing a significant shift as all but two of its teams moved primarily to the Big Ten and Big 12. This realignment of power is expected to persist, with five additional teams playing their final seasons in their current conferences, including a potential move by Gonzaga to the Pac 12.
In total, 28 Canadian players are participating in high major conferences (ACC, Pac-12, SEC, Big East, Big Ten, and Big 12), matching last year’s numbers. The Big Ten and Big 12 are at the forefront, each hosting six Canadian players, with the Big Ten featuring four true freshmen: Will Riley, Chris Tadjo, Hudson Ward, and Dylan Grant.
The MAC conference welcomed six Canadians via the transfer portal and tops the list with sixteen players across six teams. The Maine Black Bears, with five Canadians on their roster—the most Canadians on a single team—push the America East conference to second place with eight players. Other popular destinations include the consistently competitive Patriot League, Big Sky, the WAC and the West Coast Conference.
The MAC conference welcomed six Canadians via the transfer portal and tops the list with fifteen players across seven teams. The Maine Black Bears, with five Canadians on their roster—the most Canadians on a single team—pushed the America East conference to second place with ten players. Other popular destinations include the consistently competitive Patriot League, Big Sky, WAC, and West Coast Conference.
Height breakdown & analysis
As the prototypical height for an NBA player has gradually shifted from six-foot-six to closer to the six-foot-eight mark, the limits are being pushed a little further.
Towering at an impressive seven feet nine inches and possessing the uncommon skill to place his leg behind his head, Canadian Olivier Rioux has made history as the tallest player ever to step onto an NCAA court.
For the fifth consecutive year, Canada will boast the tallest player in Division I men’s basketball, following seven-foot-four Zach Edey’s improbable four-year NCAA run.
The odd Canadian run, might extend for a little longer as seven-foot-three, 13-year-old Jeremy Gohier from Montreal, Quebec will likely be entering college basketball just as Rioux plays out his senior year somewhere in 2030.
Other Canadian basketball giants to hit the NCAA hardwood include seven-foot-five Sim Bhullar (New Mexico State), his seven-foot-three brother Tanveer (New Mexico State), and a trio of seven-foot-two players: Pascal Fleury (Georgetown), Jordan Bachynski (Arizona State), and Jon Antonides (Michigan).
Additionally, the data highlights the fact that players under the six-foot mark have slim odds of making an NCAA college roster, never mind getting a shot at an NBA career.
