NBA Players By College: What College Has The Most NBA Players?

NBA Players By College
NBA Players By College

Which college has the most NBA players?

Similar to our post on what college has produced the most NFL players, we gathered data on every NBA player who has ever appeared on an active NBA roster, to figure out what college has the most NBA players of all-time.

For the fifth season in a row, Kentucky and Duke boast the most active players around the league.

Most NBA Players By College: 2022-2023 Season

SCHOOL NUMBER
Kentucky 28
Duke 26
Kansas 13
Texas 14
North Carolina 13
UCLA 12
USC 11
Gonzaga 9
Michigan 9
Michigan State 7
Villanova 9
Arizona 8
Oregon 8
Virginia 8
Washington 8
Florida 7
Florida State 9
Indiana 6
Iowa State 6
Louisville 6
LSU 6
Maryland 6
Tennessee 6
Alabama 5
Arkansas 5
Colorado 5
Ohio State 5
Stanford 5
Syracuse 5
Texas A&M 5
UConn 5
Wake Forest 5
Auburn 4
Baylor 4
Georgetown 4
Georgia Tech 4
Marquette 4
Memphis 4
Nevada 4
Oklahoma 4
Vanderbilt 4
Arizona State 3
Georgia 3
Houston 3
Iowa 3
Kansas State 3

The Wildcats have 27 total players on starting rosters for the 2022 NBA season. Duke has 22.

Most NBA Players By College: 2021-2022 Season

SCHOOL NUMBER
Kentucky 27
Duke 22
Kansas 13
Texas 13
North Carolina 12
UCLA 12
USC 10
Gonzaga 9
Michigan 9
Michigan State 9
Villanova 9
Arizona 8
Oregon 8
Virginia 8
Washington 8
Florida 7
Florida State 7
Indiana 7
Iowa State 6
Louisville 6
LSU 6
Maryland 6
Tennessee 6
Alabama 5
Arkansas 5
Colorado 5
Ohio State 5
Stanford 5
Syracuse 5
Texas A&M 5
UConn 5
Wake Forest 5
Auburn 4
Baylor 4
Georgetown 4
Georgia Tech 4
Marquette 4
Memphis 4
Nevada 4
Oklahoma 4
Vanderbilt 4
Arizona State 3
Georgia 3
Houston 3
Iowa 3
Kansas State 3
Pitt 3
San Diego State 3
SMU 3
TCU 3
UNLV 3
Utah 3
Butler 2
DePaul 2
Fresno State 2
Miami (FL) 2
Missouri 2
Murray State 2
NC State 2
Nebraska 2
Oklahoma State 2
Oregon State 2
South Carolina 2
Texas Tech 2
UC Santa Barbara 2
Utah State 2
Virginia Tech 2
Washington State 2
Western Kentucky 2
West Virginia 2
Wichita State 2
Wisconsin 2
Belmont 1
Boise State 1
Boston College 1
Bowling Green 1
Bucknell 1
Cal 1
Cal Poly 1
Central Florida 1
College of Charleston 1
Creighton 1
Davidson 1
Dayton 1
Drexel 1
George Washington 1
Illinois 1
IUPUI 1
Lehigh 1
Lipscomb 1
Louisiana-Lafayette 1
Louisiana Tech 1
Loyola (MD) 1
Marshall 1
Minnesota 1
Mississippi 1
Mississippi State 1
Missouri State 1
New Mexico 1
New Mexico State 1
Notre Dame 1
Oakland 1
Old Dominion 1
Penn State 1
Pepperdine 1
Purdue 1
Purdue-Fort Wayne 1
Radford 1
Saint Joseph’s 1
Saint Mary’s 1
Seton Hall 1
St. John’s 1
South Carolina-Upstate 1
Tennessee State 1
Texas-Arlington 1
VCU 1
Xavier 1
Weber State 1
William & Mary 1
Wyoming 1
Yale 1

2021 NBA Draft – Most NBA Players Drafted By College:

Texas – 3
Florida State – 3
Gonzaga – 3
Iowa – 2
Tennessee – 2
Alabama – 2
Auburn – 2
Florida – 2
Kentucky – 2
Michigan – 2
Baylor – 2
Creighton – 1
Nebraska – 1
Arizona State – 1
Arkansas – 1
Duke – 1
Houston – 1
Illinois – 1
Louisville – 1
Loyola (MD.) – 1
LSU – 1
Maryland – 1
Ohio University – 1
Oklahoma State – 1
Oregon – 1
Pepperdine – 1
Seton Hall – 1
Stanford – 1
UConn – 1
North Carolina – 1
USC – 1
Utah State – 1
VCU – 1
Villanova – 1
Virginia – 1
West Virginia – 1
Western Kentucky – 1

Most NBA Players By College: 2020-2021 Season

The Kentucky Wildcats have 32 players in the NBA. All-Stars Bam Adebayo and Devin Booker (son of Big Eight Player of the Year Melvin Booker) are known studs already.

Rookies Tyrese Maxey and Immanuel Quickley begin their NBA careers in 2020-2021.

Colleges with the most players on 2020-21 NBA rosters

SCHOOL NUMBER
Kentucky 32
Duke 29
North Carolina 13
Arizona 11
Kansas 11
Michigan 11
Texas 11
UCLA 11
Villanova 9
Washington 9
Florida State 8
Michigan State 8
USC 8
Virginia 8
Iowa State 7
Gonzaga 6
Indiana 6
Louisville 6
Wake Forest 6
Arkansas 5
Florida 5
LSU 5
Marquette 5
Maryland 5
Memphis 5
Oregon 5
Stanford 5
Texas A&M 5
UConn 5
Vanderbilt 5
Alabama 4
Colorado 4
Georgia 4
Kansas State 4
Nevada 4
Ohio State 4
Tennessee 4
UNLV 4
Washington State 4
Arizona State 3
Auburn 3
Baylor 3
Boston College 3
Butler 3
Fresno State 3
Georgetown 3
Georgia Tech 3
Mississippi State 3
Missouri 3
Oklahoma 3
Purdue 3
Saint Joseph’s 3
San Diego State 3
SMU 3
South Carolina 3
Syracuse 3
Texas Tech 3
Tulsa 3
Utah 3
College of Charleston 2
Creighton 2
Dayton 2
DePaul 2
Houston 2
Miami (FL) 2
Minnesota 2
Murray State 2
NC State 2
Old Dominion 2
Pitt 2
Saint Mary’s 2
St. John’s 2
TCU 2
Western Kentucky 2
Wichita State 2
Wyoming 2
Xavier 2
Belmont 1
Boise State 1
Bowling Green 1
Bucknell 1
Cal Poly 1
Cal State Long Beach 1
California 1
Campbell 1
Central Florida 1
Cincinnati 1
Davidson 1
Delaware 1
Denver 1
Florida Gulf Coast 1
George Washington 1
Green Bay 1
Illinois 1
Iowa 1
IUPUI 1
La Salle 1
Lehigh 1
Lipscomb 1
Louisiana 1
Louisiana Tech 1
Marshall 1
Missouri State 1
Montana State 1
Nebraska 1
New Mexico 1
New Mexico State 1
Notre Dame 1
Oakland 1
Oklahoma State 1
Ole Miss 1
Oregon State 1
Penn State 1
Princeton 1
Providence 1
Purdue-Fort Wayne 1
Radford 1
Seton Hall 1
St. Bonaventure 1
Syracuse 1
Tennessee State 1
Truman State 1
Tulane 1
UC Santa Barbara 1
USC Upstate 1
Utah State University 1
Virginia Tech 1
Weber State 1
West Virginia 1
William & Mary 1
Wisconsin 1
Yale 1

Most NBA Players By College: 2019-2020 Season

Overall, Kentucky has produced the most NBA players with 107 players appearing on an roster. UCLA comes in a close second with 97 players produced all-time.

What college has the most players on the same team? As of 12/15/19, five Duke Blue Devils are on the New Orleans Pelicans: J.J. Redick, Brandon Ingram, Frank Jackson, Jahlil Okafor, Zion Williamson.

Four teams have three players from the same school:

Since the NBA’s formation in the 1940s, there have been 3,394 players on rosters in both the United States and Canada.

NBA Players By College – Overall Top 10

  1. Kentucky – 107
  2. UCLA – 97
  3. North Carolina – 90
  4. Duke – 83
  5. Kansas – 72
  6. Indiana – 66
  7. Louisville – 58
  8. Notre Dame – 56
  9. Arizona – 56
  10. St. John’s – 52
NBA Players By College
NBA Players By College – What College Has The Most NBA Players?

When it comes to career length, Clemson holds the longest all-time career length with former players averaging almost eight years in the league.

Alabama comes in second place with almost seven and a half years on average as Auburn follows close behind.

What College Has The Most NBA Players By Decade?

Most NBA Players By College Per Decade

In the 1960s, Indiana produced the most NBA players.

In the 70s, North Carolina took over.

UCLA ruled the 1980s through the 2000s until Kentucky took control of the past decade.

That’s not surprising, as Kentucky has appeared in the NCAA tournament every year except for two since 2000 and won the tournament most recently in 2012.

Here are some additional takeaways:
  • The University of Kentucky has produced the most NBA players of all time with 107. They also had the most players in the NBA in the 2018-19 season
  • Players out of Clemson have the longest careers with an average of 7.7 years on the roster, followed by Alabama and Auburn
  • UCLA has been among the top 3 in producing NBA players every decade since 1970.

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