On Wednesday afternoon, Alex Karaban announced that he is going to return to UConn for his third season.
Let's take a look at the decision and what it means not just for the team, but for him too.
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Karaban has spent two years so far with the Huskies, winning the national championship as a starter both times. Hurley has indicated on countless occasions the forward's importance to the team's success, and having him return is huge for their chances towards a third title.
THE LINEUP
As things stand, there are three power forwards who have an argument to start: Karaban, sophomore Jaylin Stewart and 5-star freshman Liam McNeeley. The team has a wealth of options at the position and will have a ton of versatility. All three can shoot, drive and defend, making the prospect of playing the Huskies nightmarish.
It's tough to start three power forwards, so odds are, one is going to have to come off the bench. It's definitely not going to be Karaban for obvious reasons. If Karaban left, McNeeley and Stewart were almost surely in the starting five together, but now it's between those two. Stewart's argument is simple: he mostly sat for a year and killed it when his name was called. He's like a Ferrari in the garage waiting to hit the raceway. Though there will be some kinks to work out as he widens his workload, he's an exciting commodity who has shown flashes.
McNeeley plays a similar brand of basketball to Karaban, but with more emphasis on elite shooting. Karaban is excellent in that department, but McNeeley will enter at a higher level. He's among the best recruits UConn has gotten to commit this century, which would typically warrant a starting spot. However exceptions can be made for the reigning back-to-back champions. I'd probably give the early upper hand to Stewart, but you never know what's going to happen in the preseason.
KARABAN'S FUTURE + ROLE THIS YEAR
With all of the starters from his freshman and sophomore campaigns gone, Karaban also immediately will look to be UConn's top option in the offense and will be an early pick for an All-America selection. Even though he was one of two remaining starters last year, he's never really been the Batman or even Robin for the Huskies. He's been awesome in his role as a top 3-5 player on the team, but hasn't demonstrated anything more.
That's likely the feedback that he received from the NBA teams. Be the best player on another great UConn team. That's a better demonstration that a team should use a first round pick on him. Yes, this draft is seen as being exceptionally weak. However before Karaban moves to the next level, it's a good idea to show domination at this one. If he can reach the All-America level that he is capable of, he will be a first-rounder. But first, a third year in Storrs.
We know Karaban can shoot. His slight dip in efficiency this year from deep was probably meaningless. He hasn't been given total control of the offense, but will be this year. He needs to hit his shots, keep cutting strong to the cup and making the right plays off-ball. The thing that would really set him apart is on-ball creation. UConn doesn't have an obvious alpha point guard, but if Karaban can assume some, then he'd be on a different level. He knows the right reads to make and he's one of the smartest players in the country. There's no doubt that he's capable of having a 17 point, 5 rebound, 4 assist season, it just needs to happen.
He has the experience, he's the seasoned veteran who has started on two title teams. The best question: Why can't Karaban be great? The answer is tough to come up with.
TEAM OUTLOOK
To keep this brief, looking at the roster and what Hurley has been able to do these past few years, there's little reason to pick another team over Connecticut as early championship favorites. An easy assumption to make is that Hurley is an incredible coach and deserves the benefit of any doubt. Reigning champions hadn't done this or that in the year after, casting doubt on the Huskies last year. Instead of a hangover, Hurley followed it up with a better year.
Before Karaban's return, the biggest doubt from this 2024-25 team was whether they had the returning talent to make special things happen. There were a number of unknown entities like sophomores who needed to make jumps and unproven transfers. Adding Karaban changes this calculus. Now UConn has the best coach in the game and the player who he credits the team's offensive success to. There will be other teams with flashier transfer classes or other reasons to pick as title favorites. Personally, none have a better shot than UConn.
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