8 Big Brother Houseguests who were Division I athletes

"“And honestly, my goal coming into this house was to win. Obviously, I wanted to win first, but also just (to) win competitions. I'm an ex-D-I athlete. I like competitiveness.” —BB26 runner-up Makensy Manbeck"

There were two college Division I (D-I) athletes who were Houseguests on the recently completed season of Big Brother 26 with both reaching the Final 3. Runner-up Makensy Manback bragged much about her prowess as a D-I athlete, but the truth seems to be that the 22-year-old Houston native never even played a match in college.

An all-state volleyball star at Friendswood High School in Friendswood, Texas, the 6’1” Makensy helped lead the Mustangs to the Class 5A state semifinals in 2019 and earned a scholarship to play at D-I Houston Baptist University in 2020.

But middle blocker Makensy never played in a match at HBU—now named Houston Christian University—and the Pearland resident transferred to Texas A&M where she earned an engineering degree and graduated in August 2023.

Still, runner-up Makensy played a solid game on BB26 as runner-up to winner Chelsie Banham, winning $75,000 and winning an amazing 11 competitions including three HoH’s (Day 67, Week 11, Day 90). Five PoV’s (Day 21, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12), and three AI Arena comps.

We have seen some other athletes on Big Brother through the years, including two football players who didn’t play D-I but had some success in the sport.

On Big Brother 8, Nick Starcevic was an ally of Dick and Daniele Donato, and the 11th-place finisher played four years for D-II University of Minnesota Crookston before heading to Europe to play professional football for Team Finland in the European Football League (EFL) as a free safety.

And Big Brother 20 winner Kaycee Clark was a wide receiver for the San Diego Surge, a now-defunct professional women’s football team that played in the Women’s Football Alliance up until 2019.

Here are eight Houseguests from the civilian and celebrity seasons of the hit CBS show who did have somewhat respectable careers as D-I athletes.

Chuck Lidell, Celebrity Big Brother 1

At age 48, Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell was the first Houseguest voted out of Celebrity Big Brother 1 by a 7-1 margin on Day 10, but the Calabasas, California native actually had a pretty good run as a college wrestler in D-I and an even better run as a Mixed Martial Artist (MMA).

Liddell, now 54, went an impressive 16-7 in the UFC—where he is now a Hall of Fame member—and compiled an overall 21-9 record in his MMA career with two amateur national championships to boot.

But many don’t know that Liddell—who also played football as a center and linebacker for four years at San Marcos High School—was a star D-I wrestler at Cal-Polytechnic University (1988-1993) where in 2009 he was inducted into the Cal Poly Hall of Fame.

Metta World Peace, Celebrity Big Brother 1

Another D-I star and eventual professional athlete on Celebrity Big Brother 1 was Metta World Peace—formerly known as Ron Artest—who at age 38 was evicted on Day 13. Metta played his college basketball at D-I St. John’s in the Big East Conference (1997-1999).

The mercurial Metta, who has since changed his name to Metta Sandiford-Artest, also had a decent career as a pro hoops player as a forward in the NBA, playing for the Bulls, Kings, Rockets, Lakers, and Knicks over 19 seasons averaging 13.3 ppg and 4.5 rpg.

Ricky Williams, Celebrity Big Brother 2

On Celebrity Big Brother 2, we saw three more talented D-I athletes in the famous house in Studio City with football star Ricky Williams almost winning the season, where he finished as runner-up to Tamar Braxton, who won the show by a unanimous 9-0 vote.

Williams was a star at D-I football powerhouse, the University of Texas, where the 6’0” 225-pound running back rushed for 6,279 yards in his four seasons at Austin, winning the prestigious Heisman Trophy in 1998.

Ricky would go on to have a very nice career in the NFL where the now 47 state of California resident played for the Saints, Dolphins (twice), and Ravens.

Lolo Jones, Celebrity Big Brother 2

Another of the three elite athletes on Celebrity Big Brother 2, was Lolo Jones, who at age 36 finished in 3rd place after being evicted on Finale night, Day 19, finishing behind Ricky and Tamar. Lolo was not only a star track and field athlete but also competed in the Olympics as a brakewoman on the USA national Bobsled team.

In college at D-I LSU, Lolo won the 60-meter indoor hurdles in 2007, 2008, and 2009 and won 11 All-American honors. Lolo is now 42 and is a native of Des Moines, Iowa. In 2020, she was a cast member on Season 36 of MTV’s The Challenge but decided to leave the show on Episode 11.

Ryan Lochte, Celebrity Big Brother 2

Swimmer Ryan Lochte was the third D-I athlete on Celebrity Big Brother 2, the season with easily the most talented athletes with a Heisman Trophy winner, an NCAA track champion, and a 12-time medalist in the Summer Olympics in Lochte.

Lochte was 34 years old when he was a Houseguest on CBB2, and he was evicted on Day 13. In college, Lochte swam for the D-I University of Florida where he was named the NCAA Swimmer of the Year two times, an NCAA champion seven times, and a 24-time All-American for the Gators.

He won national titles in the pool in all three of the events he swam in and Lochte established American and US Open records in both the 200-yard IM and the 200-yard backstroke events. Only legends Michael Phelps and Kate Ledecky have won more Olympic medals than Lochte (12), including six golds.

Cody Calafiore, Big Brother 16, Big Brother 22

Cody Calafiore was a D-I athlete? You bet he was. The Big Brother Houseguest who is one of two players to have finished in 1st- or 2nd-place in his seasons (Dan Gheesling), one of the rare BB winners by a unanimous vote, and a member of one of the greatest duos in the show’s history, Cody also excelled as a soccer player on the D-I level.

Now 33, Cody (5-10, 165) married his girlfriend Cristie Laratta earlier in 2024, and he was a defensive midfielder for the D-I University of Temple (2010-2012) where he was tied for the Owls team lead in goals in 2020 (5) and led the team a season later in 2021 (6). Cody transferred to Temple from Monmouth in 2008 where he had three goals

Cody was invited to train with the Columbus Crew (MLS), but unfortunately for him, an ankle injury ended his career on the pitch. But winning $500,000 on BB22 and $50,000 on BB16 may have taken a little sting out of what might have been a pro career playing soccer for the proud New Jersey native.

Matt Klotz, Big Brother 25

On Big Brother 25, it was swimmer Matt Klotz who represented the talented list of D-I athletes to have played the Reality TV competition show which is currently played in 63 countries around the globe. Matt finished in 2nd place behind winner Jag Bains, taking home the runner-up prize money to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Like Ryan Lochte, Matt (6-2) swam for a D-I Southeastern Conference school, LSU, where he participated in the breaststroke and freestyle events for the Tigers. Originally from Cameron Park California where he attended Vista Del Lago High School, Matt also was a gold medal winner in the Deaflympics.

Cam Sullivan-Brown, Big Brother 26

Some Big Brother 26 Houseguests doubted Cam Sullivan-Brown’s claim that he actually was a D-I athlete, but the 6-1, 193-pound wide receiver did indeed play NCAA college football, and for two different schools.

In four seasons playing in the Big Ten Conference for powerhouse Penn State University, Cam had 15 receptions, including before the Bowie, Maryland native transferred to that same UMass for the 2022-23 season, There, he got more playing time and ended with 27 receptions for 373 yards and two TDs for the Minutemen, including a 124-yard game against UConn where he recorded a career-long 53-yard TD catch vs. the Huskies.

Cam really didn’t perform too well on BB26, winning no HoHs and just one PoV (Week 6) with his strong alliances with runner-up Makensy and winner Chelsie essentially carrying him to third place and Finale night. Lisa Weintraub was the second constant evicted (Day 17) and she had the same exact resume (one PoV win) as Cam who lasted all 90 days.