Which mid-majors have the most expensive rosters?

Earlier this week, CBS Sports ran a story placing every high-major basketball roster budget into tiers. By popular demand, that story’s co-author, Matt Norlander, sent a follow-up post on Twitter/X placing a few of the top mid-major programs into tiers.

Nearly every program in college basketball is spending on roster construction, but some are spending much more than others. And that’s not just for high-majors. While most mid-majors are not putting out multimillion-dollar rosters, some go well beyond that mark into high-major territory.

That starts with Grand Canyon, which Norlander speculates is spending upwards of $12 million on its roster. That’s hardly a shock to anybody who has paid attention, though. The Antelopes are stacked with talent. Dylan Darling, Tre Holloman, Dan Skillings, and Amarion Dickerson all transferred in from high-major programs. Makaih Williams, Caleb Shaw, and Efe Demirel returned to the Lopes, and then Jaden Henley announced his return in the 5-in-5 market.

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GCU is spending a lot on 5-in-5 players — Hollomon, Henley, and Skillings were all added late. But even if this roster didn’t have those guys, it would still be stacked. Quinnipiac transfer Jaden Zimmerman, ETSU transfer Blake Barkley, and Tulsa transfer Tyler Behrend are all high-level players too.

The question for GCU — aside from who will be eligible — is how well this roster was put together. And does the rush on 5-in-5 players signal a vote of no confidence in the rest of the roster? The Lopes have goals of making the NCAA Tournament this year, whether as an auto-bid or an at-large. With that budget, anything else would be a disappointment.

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In the next tier, Norlander listed Saint Louis, Memphis, and VCU as spending between $8-10 million. He also said that Murray State — which he listed in the $5-8 tier initially — is spending more than his original ballpark. So we can imagine those four teams as another tier.

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Saint Louis and VCU each won an NCAA…

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Publish date : 2026-10-23 18:55:00

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