Two summers ago, I was inspired by some of Adam Gorney’s hypothetical Madden rankings in Rivals' college football department that predicted how CFB players would be rated if there was an NCAA football video game. After over a decade of waiting for that game, EA College Football 25 was released this past week. As college fans enjoy the sweetness of that game after having it taken away for so long, some have turned their attention to College Basketball. The last game came out in 2009 and was stopped due to a mixture of a lack of sales and lawsuits that ultimately led to the initial demise of the football series. Nothing has been announced yet, but there is plenty of interest from fans in a CBB game. Using NBA 2K rating logic today, I’ve undertaken the task of guessing how UConn men’s basketball players would be rated if a game did come out this summer.

A few things to note before I start discussing my ratings. The scores are on a 0-99 scale, but 2K gives out 99’s much less freely than a game like Madden does. 2K has none with its highest player as former MVP Nikola Jokic at a 98. With that in mind, I’ve rated UConn’s men’s hoops players within the realm of college basketball. So for instance, 2X NPOY Zach Edey, who’s put up historic numbers for No. 1 Purdue would be roughly a 98 or 99. This is NOT a rating of how a player would be in the NBA, but merely in the NCAA universe. A star player on a top level team will be in the 90-98 range. An average to good starter will be between 80-89. Role players and benchwarmers will be in the 65-79 range. Players are listed below in the order that they are ranked. Without further ado, let’s get into this…

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Karaban's 90 might be a bit contentious; Some will see him as the best player on a projected top three team this year, which would warrant a higher rating. Others will see him as a player who has never been more than a fourth option and still has so much to prove. Evening those doubts and praises brings Karaban to a 90, the lowest rating a star on a top team would receive. He’s uber-talented with the capability to be an All-America type of player, but has taken the back seat so far in his career in favor of team success. His chance to be the guy on the Huskies comes now. He’s an excellent shooter, can drive, cut, defend and much more. Leading the Huskies to greatness would put him in the upper 90s, while tanking them would have the opposite effect. I have a hard time imagining he’d finish the season at a 90, with a large microscope on everything he does and a lot of potential to rise or fall.

With the large dropoff from Karaban, it’s truly tough to know who will step up as a secondary or tertiary option. As such, there are five players within the 80-83 range, which is hardly different. Mahaney gets the nod at the top as an All-WCC player in each of his two seasons at Saint Mary’s. He was a key component on two teams that received 5-seeds in the NCAA tournament, which isn’t worse than anything anyone else on the roster has accomplished. There are some bench players returning from UConn’s 2024 run, but that’s tough to fully compare to what Mahaney did as a Gael. There’s also belief around the program that Mahaney will fit better in UConn’s system and will be a more efficient player. An 83 is a rating given to a good starter on a good team, which is what he was last year.

Johnson spent his first two seasons stuck on the bench, but finally found some daylight last year as Donovan Clingan’s understudy. Though he battled foul trouble with 7.4 fouls committed per 40 minutes, he was great when he was in. Johnson was a rim runner and tremendous lob threat, bringing a completely different look compared to what teams had to prep for with Clingan. That dynamic should be similar to what Johnson has with Tarris Reed Jr. this year. Johnson’s 82 rating is that of a great bench piece or solid starter. His limited playing time might have minimized his rating last year, but he’ll have every chance to show what he’s made of this year.

Diarra was fantastic in his role during the 2024 campaign, winning Big East 6MOTY as a crucial piece off the bench for the Huskies. The biggest question–will he be able to translate his successes into a starting role for a top team in the country? Some players are just bench pieces, others are able to rise up to become ‘that guy’ for their team. In four years at the collegiate level, Diarra has been better as a reserve, but his momentum last year was promising. He showed his experience and poise when the team needed it most. That’s why he’s an 82, just like Johnson. Diarra was one of the handful of best rotation pieces nationally, but it’s up to him to show if the progression stops there or if it continues into a starting role.

As we exit the part of this where we know a lot about the players, we enter the speculation portion. Starting off, we have McNeeley, a freshman forward who flipped late from Indiana. McNeeley is an insanely talented recruit, rated at a comparable level to one and done Stephon Castle, who was picked by the San Antonio Spurs in the recent NBA Draft. Though they are vastly different players, using that comparison is helpful in determining his role. McNeeley can shoot the cover off the ball and has great driving and passing capabilities. McNeeley was viewed largely as a potential Karaban replacement when he committed, but Karaban ended up returning. Now, he’s more likely to be a Cam Spencer replacement as a movement shooter with the freedom to do more with the ball inside. Comparing players with different skillsets doesn’t make for perfect role descriptions, but odds are, McNeeley will be doing a lot of the things that Spencer did last year. He earns a high freshman rating of 81.

Stewart appears to be in direct competition with McNeeley for the final starting spot, hence why they are tied. The pair have an interesting dynamic that led to their identical ratings; Stewart as a 4-star who showed promise in his freshman year and McNeeley as a 5-star who hasn’t yet donned a Connecticut jersey. In very limited playing time behind Karaban last year, Stewart was phenomenal, highlighted by a great stretch in the Big East Tournament. If Hurley’s ability to develop talent and the way Stewart looked in flashes last year tell you anything, Stewart will be ready to play this year. It’s unclear who has the upper hand between him and McNeeley, but Stewart has tons of talent and more athleticism. Within the team, their respective performances will be an interesting storyline to watch.

Reed was a very talented recruit coming in, ranked just above Clingan. His Michigan career left much to be desired, as he was a solid player on a team that was akin to a sinking ship. Reed has a traditional, back to the basket, big man game at 6-foot-10, a bit of a throwback. The general idea is that he will split minutes with Johnson, though there is a lack of clarity as to who has the upper hand so far. Reed’s rating of an 80 might be a bit generous, since he was a starter on a really poor team. Hurley has a tendency of making the most out of the players on his roster, and with Reed’s talents, he should be able to get more out of him than we saw at Michigan.

Ball is the last player who seems to have a reasonably secure shot at playing time. He was a starter over Diarra last year when Castle was injured and he played well. A 79 isn’t as high of a rating as he likely could have gotten, but the trajectory of his minutes wasn’t amazing when compared to Stewart, who saw his minutes increase throughout the year. It was ultimately an unfortunate situation for Ball, who was stuck warming the bench because he was behind a top four draft pick. His shooting is his strong suit, but early jitters prevented that from showing in what was a small sample. Ball didn’t get a fair chance last year. He will this year and his rating has the chance to skyrocket compared to this figure.

Nowell might get minutes, but there’s a lot of talent on the team. He’s a highly-rated freshman who had his thunder taken by McNeeley late in the process as the top incoming recruit. A 77 is a high rating for a freshman, but seems fair for a high 4-star. He’s an elite floor general with great passing, a nice layup package and a good-looking shot. How much of that he gets to show this year will determine how his rating develops.

Like Nowell, Abraham is a freshman talented enough for minutes, but likely won’t get many because of how crowded the team is. He has a college-ready body and a game that looks to be better than many expected, but that still might not be enough to carve out a role. If he sees the floor then the rating could go up, but that’s a stretch.

Ross came in with Ball as a freshman and saw no legitimate playing time in his first year. The wing position seems just about filled to the brim with talent, leaving him in a similar position opportunity-wise. His 73 is based on what he did in high school and how he might have developed in Hurley’s system, but it isn’t supported much by anything he’s done in Storrs.

Like Ross, Singare doesn’t stand to see the floor much this season without injuries. He was recruited as a project and will have a chance to compete for a role once Johnson graduates. Until then, his rating will be in the 60s without much of a chance to show otherwise.

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