Every year since 2010/11, Hoopsfix has published a Brits in College article tracking which British men are playing in North American college basketball.
Each season also includes a list of players who have left North American college basketball, along with a short note on what they did next. By combining those lists across more than a decade, we can use them as evidence for what different college starting points tend to lead to.
Reaching D1
Where a player starts shapes a lot of what happens next.
The table below shows the share of players from each starting point who spent at least one season at a D1 school.
| Starting Level | Players | % Reached D1 |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 148 | 100.0% |
| D2 | 105 | 6.7% |
| D3 | 49 | 0.0% |
| JUCO | 275 | 13.5% |
| NAIA | 58 | 0.0% |
| Canada | 27 | 0.0% |
| USCAA/NCCAA/CCCAA | 7 | 0.0% |
Outside players who begin at D1, very few ever reach it later on. JUCO produces some movement upwards, but even there it remains a minority outcome. For D2, the share is smaller again, and for D3, NAIA, Canada and the smaller US college groupings here, it is absent in this dataset.
That does not mean lower-level offers are bad choices. It does mean they should not be understood as likely routes into D1.
Time in College
The table below shows two measures by starting level. “% One year” is the share of players who appeared on the Hoopsfix lists for only one season before leaving North American college basketball or dropping out of Hoopsfix tracking. “% 4+ years” is the share who remained on the lists for at least four seasons.
To avoid counting current students as if their college run were already complete, the table only includes players whose first college season was at least five years before the latest season in the dataset.
| Starting Level | % One Year | % 4+ Years |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 14.8% | 52.8% |
| D2 | 14.3% | 53.2% |
| D3 | 28.0% | 28.0% |
| JUCO | 29.2% | 38.8% |
| NAIA | 31.0% | 33.3% |
| Canada | 27.8% | 27.8% |
| USCAA/NCCAA/CCCAA | 50.0% | 0.0% |
The clearest signal is how often players appear on the Hoopsfix lists for one year and then disappear. That is far less common for players who start at D1 or D2 than for those who start at D3, JUCO, NAIA or Canada.
That does not tell us exactly what happened in each case, because the Hoopsfix lists track college basketball participation rather than college enrolment on its own. A one-year stay could reflect basketball fit, academic or personal adjustment, transfer, or simply losing clear public tracking. Either way, getting there is only part of the challenge. Staying there is another.
The other side of the table points the same way. More than half of players who start at D1 or D2 last at least four years. Outside those two levels, that share drops sharply.
Pro Outcomes
The table below shows how often a player’s immediate next step after college was to join a senior basketball team.
It is impossible to know the contractual status of every player, so “signed pro” here uses a proxy. That includes players whose Hoopsfix write-up explicitly says they signed professionally, and players who joined a team in a league featured on the No Ceilings league strength table.
No Ceilings’ league strength table is a published attempt to rank basketball competitions around the world by level, which makes it a useful proxy for whether a league should be treated as part of the professional game.
| Starting Level | Players | % Signed pro |
|---|---|---|
| D1 | 148 | 33.8% |
| D2 | 105 | 18.1% |
| D3 | 49 | 0.0% |
| JUCO | 275 | 10.5% |
| NAIA | 58 | 6.9% |
| Canada | 27 | 14.8% |
| USCAA/NCCAA/CCCAA | 7 | 0.0% |
D1 is clearly different from every other starting point here. It is the only starting level where moving straight into senior basketball is anything close to common.
Beyond that, the rates fall away quickly. D2 still produces some immediate pro outcomes, but at a much lower rate, and the remaining starting points are lower again. In other words, once players begin outside the top tier, college is much less likely to turn directly into senior basketball.
This table only captures immediate moves into senior basketball. It does not include players with unknown post-college data, and it will miss players who signed later rather than straight after leaving college.
Understanding the Offer
None of this means a player should only go to North America if the offer is at D1 or D2 level. Lower-level offers can still be the right choice, but they usually mean a harder path to D1, less time in North American college basketball and a lower chance of moving straight into a pro career.
The right decision will still depend on the player. The important thing is knowing more clearly what each option is likely to lead to.
The same analysis on the women’s side will follow tomorrow.
