College Basketball Rules for Walk-Ons

According to College Sports Scholarships, basketball is considered a head-count sport. The term head-count means the number of scholarships colleges can award is capped at 13 for division I basketball teams. It also means there’s a limit to the number of players receiving scholarships to play college basketball. As of 2010, 327 division I college programs offered basketball scholarships and only 277 division II schools, which equates to 6,982 scholarships offered by schools in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)—the premier membership organization for intercollegiate athletics. For this reason, a number of athletes elect to walk-on a basketball team, especially when it’s a top college basketball program. A walk-on hasn’t been recruited to the team, but earns a spot on the team roster by tryout.

  1. Admitted to College

    • Before an athlete is permitted to walk-on to a collegiate basketball program, the NCAA requires he apply and receive acceptance to the college. This rule applies to graduating high school students and transfer students not participating in another college’s basketball program.

    Rules for Transfers

    • An athlete on another college team roster, who transfers to another program and assumes a walk-on status can’t talk to the coaches at the college he’s transferring to until he’s officially released from the roster at his former college. In addition, player transfers must adhere to protocol prescribed in the NCAA Transfer Guide 2009-10.

    NCAA Clearance

    • The NCAA requires all walk-ons to obtain clearance from the NCAA Clearinghouse. According to College Board, the NCAA Clearinghouse conducts a review of a student’s academic record, SAT and/or ACT scores and his amateur status to confirm it is compliant with NCAA rules. No player can participate in a tryout until this occurs. Once the player is cleared, NCAA rules stipulate an athlete must remain in good-standing with the team’s academic and NCAA’s requirements.

      Students register online on the NCAA Clearinghouse website through the Eligibility Center. The website also provides information about NCAA academic eligibility requirements also located within the Eligibility Center.

    Health Requirements

    • Certain schools, like University of Mississippi, require walk-ons to undergo a physical exam, including a stress test prior to the tryout. Walk-ons also must usually display verification of health insurance coverage.

      Furthermore, most schools require walks-on to take and pass a drug tests.

    Tryout

    • Walk-ons must participate in a tryout for coaches to assess a player’s basketball skills. Colleges set their own tryout dates. The general purpose of the tryout is to assess an individual player’s performance, which is then compared with scholarship players already on the team roster. When a college coaching staff determines a player is good enough to make the team, he’s added to the team roster as a walk-on. Although he’s added to the team, he’s ineligible for scholarship money for that year. In some cases, a walk-on is added to a team’s roster in subsequent years as a scholarship player.