Poster 368: Effects of Early Sports Specialization on NCAA Basketball Players: Injury, Career Outcomes, and Gender Differences

OBJECTIVES: There has been a trend towards single-sport specialization at increasingly younger ages amongst youth athletes. Early specialization has been associated with increased injury rates and reduced career longevity in professional basketball players. However, the effects of early specialization on injury and longevity in college basketball have not been studied. Further, the effects on other important career markers such as recruitment and scholarship attainment are not well understood. The purpose of this study is to determine whether associations exist between early specialization and injury risk, recruitment, scholarship attainment, and career longevity in college basketball athletes. METHODS: This study represents a sub-analysis of basketball players from a larger study which surveyed former student athletes from multiple National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) institutions. Former student-athletes from three large Division I institutions as well as other collaborating Division I- III institutions who graduated between 1960 and 2018 were eligible for inclusion in the study. Current basketball athletes were also eligible for participation if they had participated in at least one season of basketball. Athletes were surveyed regarding demographics, age of specialization, time-loss injury history, scholarship attainment, recruitment status, and longevity of college basketball career. Early specialization was defined as narrowing participation to a single sport (basketball) before age 15. For injury history, athletes were specifically queried for sports-related injuries that resulted in greater than 30 days out of sport or were season-ending. Chi-square and Fisher’s exact test were performed to identify significant differences. RESULTS: One hundred and eight basketball players completed the survey, including 6 current athletes and 102 former athletes. There were 54 males and 54 females. Fourteen athletes were classified as early specializers (before age 15) and 94 athletes were classified as late specializers (age 15 and older). There were no significant differences between early and late specializers in terms of rate of time-loss injury (14.3% vs. 31.5%; p = 0.23), rate of surgery for a sports injury (14.3% vs. 18.5%; p = 1.0), or mean college basketball career length (3.21 years vs. 3.09 years; p = 0.4) (Table 1). There was also no significant difference in scholarship attainment (69.2% vs. 66.3%; p = 1.0) or recruitment status (71.4% vs. 71.2%; p = 0.76) (Table 1). Between females and males, there was no significant difference in rate of early specialization (9.3% vs. 14.8%, p = 0.38). There were no significant differences in rates of injury (30.2% vs. 30.2%; p = 1.0), surgery (23.0% vs 13.0%; p = 0.17), scholarship attainment (72.2% vs. 62.8%; p=0.3), or recruitment (72.2% vs. 79.3%; p=0.4) (Table 2). Females on average had a longer collegiate career length than males (3.95 years vs. 2.89 years; p=0.03) (Table 2). CONCLUSIONS: Early specializing college basketball players did not experience increased rates of injury, surgery, or decreased collegiate basketball career longevity. Early specializers were also not more likely to be recruited or to receive a scholarship. These findings suggest that early specialization may not be a risk factor for injury, need for surgery, or attrition in the collegiate basketball population. These findings also suggest that early specialization may not be necessary for recruitment or scholarship attainment in college basketball. Further prospective study evaluating all injury types, including overuse injuries, is warranted to better understand the effects of early sport specialization in this population.