Major increase in internationals to NCAA confirmed by FIBA Migration Report
The perceived major increase in international players flocking to NCAA basketball was confirmed by the release of the FIBA/CIES Migration Report 2024 which also included other fascinating trends.
The massive increase in international players flocking to NCAA basketball - more and more for the dramatic rise in money offered by Name, Image and Likeness deals - was confirmed by the 2024 edition of the International Basketball Migration Report, an annual report contracted by FIBA and compiled by the CIES Sports Observatory, a research group within the International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES).
A record total of 826 men’s international players competed in NCAA Division 1 in 2023-24, an increase of 5.8% from the previous season. The women’s game actually drew even more internationals as a record 828 women’s players were in Division I basketball - up 7.1% from 2022-23.
The number of nationalities in NCAA Men’s basketball fell from 98 to 95 with Europe making up the largest proportion with 41%. There were 71 nationalities represented in the women’s game, up from 67 in 2022-23. Europeans comprised 53% of the women’s players.
The CIES report did not mention NIL money but did hint that the move of more internationals to NCAA was possibly becausse of a lack of playing time for younger players in their domestic leagues.
Looking at the CIES’s findings in terms of National U21 players, Argentina led the way with the highest percentage of such players (26.8%), followed by France (24.0%) and Brazil (23.5%) But Argentina’s teams allowed only 3.1 average minutes per game played by National U21 players - the second worst after only Italy’s 1.8 average minutes. China topped the average minutes category with 10.1 minutes and was followed by Adriatic League (9.2 average minutes) and Brazil (6.7 average minutes).
Last in percentage of National U21 Players was Japan (3.9%), followed by Spain (5.6%), Australia (7.8%) and Germany (9.8%).
The youngest league in the CIES report was the Belgian-Netherlands BNXT at 24.5 years average while Adriatic League was second at 25.8 years followed by Germany’s 25.9. The oldest leagues in terms of average player age are Japan (28.9), Spain (27.7) and VTB United (27.1).
And the report found that four of the five oldest clubs by average age were in Japan - topped by Uutsunomiya Brex at 31.5 years - while KK Mega Belgrade of Serbia was the youngest at 21.2 years.
One fascinating fact when looking at the percentage of foreigners and the average minutes per game played by foreigners is Spain’s usage of them. They have the highest percentage at 72.2% but those players have the second lowest average minutes at 17.6.
Altogether, the IBMR showed a new record of total international transfers with 13,149 taking place in 2023-24, about 1,200 more than the previous year. There were new records with 10,051 for men and 3,098 for women. The 13,149 transfers represent an increase of 113% since the 2010-11 season.
The United States once again were the dominant exporter of players with 2.050 exports this year. That was nearly three times more than the second-largest exporter Spain (708). USA also had the highest positive balance of 1,679 - the second-highest positive balance bein France with 123. The three highest negative balances belonged to Australia, Spain and Switzerland.
Seven of the 10 countries importing the most players are in Europe - topped by Spain, Germany and Italy.
Looking at all the domestic leagues in the report, the most represented nationality was USA with 27.8% of the total number of players.
And finally, looking at the flow network of international transfers, the top three player paths remained unchanged: USA-Australia; USA-Spain; USA-Germany. The report did find that Australia is starting to attract more players from Europe with increases in the Germany-Australia and Great Britain migratory paths.
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