Following 15 dormant years, EA Sports is reviving its NCAA Basketball video game series with both men’s and women’s college teams, and Marist will do whatever it takes to be a part of it.
EA’s announcement post has garnered over 33 million views and 115,000 likes, as sports fans and gamers alike have clamored for a college basketball video game. They’ll get their wish, but the waiting isn’t over quite yet – EA has set 2028 as its tentative scheduled release date.
EA Sports made its triumphant return to the collegiate athletics world in July of 2024 when it released EA Sports College Football 25, ending an 11-year hiatus. The college football games were widely popular in each of their releases since their inception in 1993, but the series halted after NCAA Football 14 due to legal issues regarding using players’ likenesses in the games.
Once the NCAA began to legalize name, image and likeness (NIL) in 2021, it set the stage for the EA Sports video game series to return.
Their return was historic; EA Sports College Football 25 became the best-selling sports game in U.S. history, just over five months after its release. Unsurprisingly, EA announced it will be producing a new version of the game for the 2025-26 college football season.
So far, the college football series only includes schools at the FBS level, meaning Marist and its FCS counterparts are not playable in the game. However, there is plenty of reason to believe the Red Foxes will be in the basketball iteration when it comes out. Given the fact that the basketball game is not set to come out for a few years, it’s fair to assume that EA can include every DI program.
The process of getting a school in the game is simple, according to what Harrison Baker, associate athletics director and director of external affairs, has heard from schools that are a part of the college football game. Programs had to provide EA with color codes, uniform templates and the school’s fight song, as well as some other miscellaneous information.
“It’s a lot of stuff like that, just tracking down official things that EA might ask for when it comes to getting likeness into the game,” said Baker.
EA discontinued its NCAA Basketball series after the release of NCAA Basketball 10, which released on Nov. 17, 2009. The game had nearly every Division I program in it (325 of 353), including the Marist Red Foxes.
NCAA Basketball 10 was exclusively produced on seventh-generation consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), and its graphics pale in comparison to those of current sports video games. Additionally, EA Sports used templated smaller arenas that closely matched each school’s home gym, instead of creating each program’s unique arena.
While it does look similar, there are glaring differences in the video game version of McCann Arena. For one, there are no windows in the arena, but they are seen in the video game. The structure of the seating is also off – there are many more rows of bleachers behind the basket in real life, in contrast to fewer rows along the sidelines and seating does not extend into the corner.
EA used countless images to make 3D renderings for each football stadium, and it will likely be a similar process for their eventual basketball game to ensure a more authentic feel. However, if EA wanted to take a tour of McCann Arena to make sure the Red Foxes’ 3,200-seat home gym is perfectly replicated, the athletic department would welcome them with open arms.
“If they wanted to come here, our doors are open,” laughed Baker.
Ahead of the worldwide release of EA Sports College Football 25 on July 10, EA announced a new royalties structure that will monetarily reward schools based on how often users choose to play with them.
Looking down the road at the basketball game, for small mid-major schools like Marist, the extra money can go a long way. One way the Marist can make itself more attractive to use is by continuing to release new alternate uniforms that could catch the eye of gamers.
“I think building up our jersey rolodex over the next couple of years would be good, just to get more options there that will make us more enticing to play,” said Baker.
In February, Marist unveiled its first-ever alternate jersey, a throwback honoring its 1987 squad that reached the NCAA Tournament, opening the door for future unique uniforms. The simplistic throwback jerseys and subsequent merchandise were a hit amongst fans, motivating Baker to start planning the Red Foxes’ next alternate uniform set.
When EA eventually restarts their college basketball series, it presents Marist with an opportunity to market themselves to an audience that otherwise might not know about the small school on the banks of the Hudson River.
“We’ll have a pretty big scale of people that may not know who we are and are just scrolling through teams thinking, ‘who’s that?’ or ‘where’s that team from?’” said Baker.
Edited by Ryan Eichem
Graphic by Nathaniel Babcock
Photo from Jaylen Rizzo
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