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Foreign college athletes make up notable part of Division I

By The Associated PressDecember 14, 2022 GMT

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FILE - DePaul's Nick Ongenda (14), of Canada, blocks the shot of Connecticut's Jalen Gaffney (0) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022, in Chicago. Traveling for international sporting events is giving some foreign college athletes the chance to chase their shot at cashing in on their fame. Those athletes have largely been left out of the rush for endorsement deals. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

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College athletes from foreign countries represent a small but noteworthy piece of Division I sports.

According to the NCAA’s most recent data, there were 113,666 athletes across Division I sports for the 2019-20 season. International students accounted for 12.6% of that total (14,291).

They represented a bigger piece of men’s and women’s basketball, two of the higher-profile sports. International athletes accounted for 14.7% of Division I men’s basketball players (684 of 4,666) and 13.1% of women’s basketball players (645 of 4,943), according to NCAA data for 2019-20.

Student-visa rules generally prohibit off-campus work except in rare exceptions such as internships or work-study programs. That represents a significant obstacle for international athletes to pursue name, image and likeness (NIL) endorsement opportunities readily available to American teammates.

“Athletic directors are cognizant of this,” said Blake Lawrence, co-founder/chief executive officer of athlete marketing platform Opendorse. “I literally just got a text message from a Power Five administrator that they have seven of their basketball players who are international. So there are challenges around helping those seven student-athletes stay on par with the others on their team.”