For the first time in more than 16 years, active college basketball players are returning to a major video game.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, 2K Sports revealed 16 college additions<\/a> for MyTeam and MyCareer mode in NBA 2K26, the first part of what is expected to be a larger college offering in future years. This pack, part of a \u201cSeason 5\u201d release on Friday, includes current and former men\u2019s and women\u2019s players from Arizona, Baylor, Duke, Florida, Houston, Kansas, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Purdue, UCLA, UConn, North Carolina, Kentucky and Texas.<\/p>\n MyTeam is a game mode where gamers collect cards to create fantasy teams and lineups. MyCareer is a single-player mode where a created player goes through high school, college and into the NBA.<\/p>\n Active players highlighted in the trailer released Wednesday include Duke men\u2019s player Cameron Boozer and UCLA women\u2019s player Lauren Betts. Also included are Arizona\u2019s Koa Peat, Michigan State\u2019s Jeremy Fears Jr. and Florida\u2019s Olivier Rioux, among others. Alumni player cards announced include Kevin Durant (Texas) and Paige Bueckers (UConn), V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor), Marvin Bagley III (Duke), Jason Williams (Florida), Rip Hamilton (UConn), Breanna Stewart (UConn), Draymond Green (Michigan State) and coach Larry Brown (Kansas).<\/p>\n 2K Sports said last year that more than 100 schools will be included in its eventual college experience, part of a larger basketball world with the NBA and WNBA. The plan has been for more college player options in 2027, but there has been no announcement of a standalone game, which 2K last published in 2008 but canceled due to poor sales.<\/p>\n \u201cAuthentically representing the scale of college hoops is an ambitious project that begins with our foundational college basketball experience available in early 2027,\u201d 2K Sports said in a release. \u201cWe\u2019ll have more details to share on that in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n Last June, EA Sports teased that it would bring back a standalone college basketball game<\/a> for the first time since 2009. However, the company in September pulled back and told schools it would not make a new game, due to some schools accepting an offer to be in NBA 2K.<\/p>\n