College sports video games are, unfortunately, a thing of the past, but that hasn’t stopped 2K Sports from implementing teams into their annual basketball franchise. The 2015 version of the game featured ten playable collegiate programs in the lauded ‘MyCareer’ mode, and that advancement will be making a return this Fall. The best part about it? The Fighting Illini will be one of the selectable teams!
2K Sports dropped the following trailer for NBA 2k17 on Friday morning and, if you fast-forward to the 33-second mark, you’ll see this year’s new crop of college teams. In addition to Illinois, users will be able to select Kansas, Georgetown, Arizona, Louisville, UConn, Oklahoma, Georgia Tech, Michigan State, and Wake Forest.
Announcing THE PRELUDE! Jump start your #NBA2K17 MyCAREER early on 9/9. Begin your journey for FREE on PSN & XBL!https://t.co/Y1huI714Zk
— NBA 2K 2K17 (@NBA2K) August 26, 2016
Now, it’s important to note that you likely won’t be able pick up a controller and play with the aforementioned teams in a head-to-head game with your friend(s). MyCareer mode puts you in the shoes of a single created player and the ‘college’ stage spans about four or five games prior to the virtual NBA Draft.
NBA 2k17 is scheduled to be released on September 20. It’ll be available to play on Xbox One, Playstation 4, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.
UPDATE (10:30am)
#Actually, you will be able to use Illinois in head-to-head games. Sporting News has reported that "All-Time Great" rosters for each program will be appearing this year. Can't wait to see which players get included!
With "NBA 2K17," there will be 10 licensed universities, and their involvement is expanding. Once again they'll play a role in the story mode, but 2K will also be selling "All-Time Great" rosters for those teams to use in Play Now mode. The players will be found in the MyTeam card-collecting/team-building mode.