How long can you be a basketball player in college?

I play basketball and I've been wondering about how long you can be a college player. What's been the longest someone has ever played college basketball?

Typically, a college basketball player has four years of playing eligibility, also referred to as "four seasons in five". This is usually dispersed over five years, giving athletes a chance to redshirt for one season if needed.

The "redshirt" system allows student athletes to sit out a year in order to extend their period of eligibility, often due to injury or to further develop their skills (they can still attend classes and practices, but cannot compete in official games). For example, if a player gets injured in their first or second year and cannot play, they might redshirt that year and then have three remaining years of eligibility.

In some rare cases, athletes can get a medical hardship waiver, or a "medical redshirt", which would allow them an additional year of competition if they were unable to compete in more than 30% of their team's games due to injury. These waivers aren't granted often and require a thorough review process.

In summary, while the typical length of a college basketball career is 4 playing years within a 5-year period, granting of a redshirt or medical waiver can extend this, but it is relatively rare. It's difficult to pinpoint the singular longest anyone has ever played college basketball, due to the variety of unique situations one could encounter.