List of NCAA Division I men's basketball career games played leaders
In the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the statistic for total games played in Division I men's basketball helps opposing coaches to monitor the extent that a particular player is used on a team. By definition, a player has "played in a game" when he enters the contest via substitution or by starting the contest. All that is required is that he is one of the five players for a team on the court for a minimal time of one second according to the game clock. As  of the end of the 2021–22 season, the all-time leader in games played is Jordan Bohannon, who played six seasons at Iowa and appeared in 179 games. Bohannon benefited from two special provisions of NCAA rules that allowed him to play in more than the standard four seasons. Normally, the only way for a player to play in more than four NCAA seasons is to qualify for a "medical redshirt", officially known by the NCAA as a "hardship waiver". To be eligible, a player must have participated in fewer than one third of his team's scheduled games in  that season, and cannot have participated in any games in the second half of the season. Bohannon received a medical redshirt in 2019–20, a season in which he played 10 games. Several other players on the career leaders list benefited from this rule. Bohannon also benefited from a special NCAA eligibility waiver for the 2020–21 season, which was so heavily disrupted by COVID-19 that the NCAA announced it would not count that season against any player's period of eligibility. He chose to play a final season in 2021–22. Five other members of the career leaders list have played  in six seasons: Top 25 games played leaders. Includes ties for 25th. Accurate as of games played through the 2021–22 season. Leaders without COVID-19 waiver. All 25 of the overall top 25 is occupied by players who were active in the 2020–21 season and benefited from the COVID-19 waiver. The last players eligible to take advantage of this waiver will not complete their college eligibility until 2024–25, not counting any potential medical redshirt season in 2021–22 or later. For this reason, a separate list consisting solely of players who did not benefit from the waiver is being maintained. List of