At least 18 men’s college basketball players will earn more than LeBron James next season.
The last time that was true? Try the 2002-03 season, when James was a senior at St. Vincent-St. Mary High in Akron, Ohio. Technically, any college hooper on scholarship “made” more than James at the time, though prominent players were getting more than room, board and tuition long before the current era of compensation in the millions.
It’s safe to say James’ rookie salary of just over $4 million with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003-04 was much more than anyone playing the college game — discreet bags of cash and keys to an SUV leased to an uncle were no match for NBA contracts. But James will make a career-low $3.8 million with the Philadelphia 76ers next season, his 24th in the NBA, and that will put him behind nearly 20 college players.
How many college basketball players will make more money than LeBron?
That’s a big jump from last season, when only a handful of college players were in the $4 million range or higher, despite an all-time freshman class led by AJ Dybantsa and Cameron Boozer. But despite criticism from coaches, the ceiling keeps rising.
At least some of that spending surge is due to several of the players returning to college who could have been drafted, causing college programs to effectively “bid” against the NBA’s rookie salary scale to lure them back to campus.
Former Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance, who was selected 20th overall in June’s NBA Draft, wound up being the de facto line of demarcation in that respect. The 6-foot-10 big man is set to earn $3.9 million as a rookie with the San Antonio Spurs — just more than what the four-time MVP will take home with Philadelphia.
Florida’s Thomas Haugh is expected to be the highest-paid player in college basketball next season after he withdrew from the 2026 NBA Draft despite being projected a first-round pick. Matt Norlander of CBS reported Haugh’s earnings could exceed $10 million this season with the Gators, which is more than double what James will make.
Following discussions with multiple college coaches, general managers and NBA scouts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect competitive interests, we know these 18 players will all be making at least $3.9 million.
PlayerPositionTeamTransfer portal ranking
Aiden Sherrell
Forward
No. 20
David Punch
Forward
No. 7
Flory Bidunga
Center
No. 1
Jackson Shelstad
Guard
No. 9
John Blackwell
Guard
No. 3
JT Toppin
Forward
Returned to team
Juke Harris
Guard
No. 2
Massamba Diop
Center
No. 29
Milan Momcilovic
Forward
No. 4
Moustapha Thiam
Center
No. 13
Nikola Kusturica
Forward
Freshman
PJ Haggerty
Guard
No. 8
Samet Yigitoglu
Center
No. 51
Sananda Fru
Center
No. 39
Thomas Haugh
Forward
Returned to team
Tounde Yessoufou
Guard
No. 5
Tyran Stokes
Guard
Freshman
Zoom Diallo
Guard
No. 45
That’s a lot of college hoopers — some of whom may never make a mark in the NBA and all of whom are destined to fall short of James’ greatness — making more than him next season. And that’s not all they’ve got on him. None of them were born as of June 26, 2003, the day he was drafted.