Mar 23, 2025; Raleigh, NC, USA; Connecticut Huskies forward Alex Karaban (11) drives to the basket during the first half against the Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

UConn HC Not Ready to Lose Alex Karaban

Originally posted on UConn Huskies on SI
By Tyler Miller | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 7:00 AM ET

The UConn Huskies ended the 2024-25 season with an unfortunate loss to the number one seeded Florida Gators at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh, North Carolina 77-75 on March 23. But with the new season approaching very soon, practice is already getting underway, and the emotions are high in late September.

With the emotions high and players trying to get back into form and trying to find their rhythm again, Alex Karaban has to be thinking about how this is his senior season. He decided not to go into the NBA Draft the last two years and up his stock and see if he can be a first-round draft pick at the next draft.

With it being his senior season, his head coach is feeling a lot about having coached him since he was a freshman and the fact that he is now already on year four. Head coach Dan Hurley spoke to the media recently about how he feels with it being his last year getting to coach the phenom.

Karaban was around for when the Huskies went back-to-back in the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Karaban got rings in his freshman and sophomore seasons, and his Huskies played the Gators the best out of all of their opponents in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. Karaban's average point totals increased with each season that he played.

He averaged 9.3 points per game in the 2022 season, 13.3 points per game in the 2023 season, and 14.3 points per game in the 2024 season. Karaban just kept getting better and better as each season went on. Karaban is always one of the ones that plays his hardest every game no matter who the opponent is and no matter how minutes he gets a game.

Karaban is one of those players that if he really adds more points per game in the 2025 season, especially since he has a really good three-point shot, that he could become a serious consideration to be a first-rounder. His former teammate Liam McNeeley was a first-round pick and so was Stephon Castle. If McNeeley and Castle can do it, so can he, and Hurley will be so proud of Karaban.

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