College basketball programs are reportedly spending upward of $10 million to build rosters

College basketball is essentially the Wild Wild West right now.

With high-end programs able to spend top dollar on players in the transfer portal and in the high school ranks, it’s created nothing short of free agency. If a school has the money, they can pay whatever the going price is for the best players out there — even if the total cost reaches eight figures.

According to Travis Branham of 247Sports, he reports there are at least eight men’s college basketball teams spending over $10 million on rosters for the 2025-26 season. He’s not the only media member hearing the same thing, either.

There are at least 8 teams that will have a $10,000,000+ roster in college basketball next season, per @247Sports sources.

— Travis Branham (@TravisBranham_) April 11, 2025

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello says eight teams “might be a low estimate at this point” and that “the numbers being mentioned are crazy and adding up quickly.” Jeff Goodman from The Field of 68 believes the actual number of teams with $10 million-plus rosters with be closer to 15. It wouldn’t be a shock if Kentucky was included in this group.

If a school has the budget, they’re more than willing to shell out insane amounts of cash on college students to build the best team possible.

Which is why revenue-sharing will be coming to college athletics in the very near future: to hopefully provide some guidelines and stability. The House v. NCAA class-action lawsuit is on the verge of passing with a revenue-sharing distribution model potentially going into effect on July 1.

Once this settlement passes, schools will be allowed to share up to $20.5 million in revenue to athletes. Schools are allowed to share however much they want as long as it does not surpass this number. How that money is split between athletes is to be determined.

Change is (once again) coming, but in the meantime, it remains the Wild Wild West.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.