Alex Karaban’s last journey with UConn through March Madness can take him into rare company
As the 2026 version of March Madness begins, there are two methods to have a look at the chances confronting Connecticut energy ahead Alex Karaban. He may very well be six wins away from becoming a member of probably the most unique fraternities in school basketball. Or he may very well be six wins away from beginning his personal.
It is dependent upon how one does the accounting.
Of round 30,000 males who’ve competed within the NCAA Tournament, there have been 15 who claimed three championships throughout their careers. All of them performed for John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins.
Which means by the evening of April 6, Karaban may very well be in a league of his personal.
It can be an astounding accomplishment to affix these Bruins, contemplating the company he would hold; Among that group are Sidney Wicks, Curtis Rowe, Lynn Shackelford, Henry Bibby and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. To be the one one who obtained there outdoors the Wooden dynasty, although, would make it much more extraordinary.
“That’s crazy,” Karaban informed The Sporting News. “I knew it had to be a very short list, and I knew it had to be from the UCLA days ever since I decided to come back, but I think it’s just super cool. I really haven’t thought about it that much, just because I want to do it so badly. I have known the list is very short, and how special it could be.”
Karaban received his first title as a freshman starter on coach Dan Hurley’s 2022-23 workforce, which completed solely fourth within the Big East however discovered a transparent sense of himself in a slim, mid-February highway loss at Creighton after which received 12 of his ultimate 13 video games. Karaban averaged 9.3 factors that season and held up properly towards the stress of the postseason, scoring 11 factors in a Sweet 16 win over Arkansas and 12 within the Elite Eight towards Gonzaga.
A 12 months later, he was enjoying half-hour an evening throughout UConn’s rampage as probably the most dominant school groups of the 21st century, delivering a 14-point, 8-rebound efficiency within the nationwide semifinal victory over Alabama. The Huskies received that championship with all six victories by double-figure margins.
He thought of leaving for the NBA after every of the previous two seasons, as soon as after including the second ring to his assortment and the second after a disappointing season that ended with a presumably inspiring second-round defeat to eventual champion Florida.
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Choosing to return was, partly, motivated by the prospect to win a 3rd.
“Absolutely. I want to leave a legacy at UConn, and winning a national championship is definitely doing that, possibly putting myself in an extremely rare category, by winning a third,” Karaban informed SN. “That’s something that can’t be taken away from me. So that’s a goal. That’s what we’re striving for this year.”
Karaban dedicated to Connecticut in August 2021 as a four-star prospect rated No. 118 within the nation. He selected the college over Ohio State, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame, amongst others, partly due to UConn’s proximity to his dwelling in Southborough, Mass. It has been a really perfect match. His household and pals have simply been in a position to drive the hour to dwelling video games, and he has supplied a constant “stretch 4” weapon for groups which have received 121 video games and misplaced 27.
Karaban has by no means been a statistical celebrity. He’s by no means averaged greater than 14.3 factors or 5.3 rebounds, however he is been not less than a 38 p.c long-distance shooter and 47 p.c shooter from the sphere in three of his 4 seasons. His consistency since arriving on campus, although, has been outstanding. Karaban has began 144 of 145 video games. In a program that has been dwelling to Rip Hamilton, Kemba Walker, Emeka Okafor, Ray Allen, Donyell Marshall and Shabazz Napier, Karaban is the profession chief in victories. He was a first-team All-Big East choice this season.
In 2024-25, when Connecticut entered the season with an opportunity for historical past’s first three-peat since that UCLA dynasty, the Huskies struggled through a lot of the season due to insufficient level guard play and a protection that was uncommonly pliable. They ranked solely 75th in defensive effectivity at KenPom.com, in comparison with No. 7 and No. 4 within the championship years.
“I think last year, we just didn’t do what we were expected to do: offensively, defensively, we just didn’t play the UConn basketball you saw the previous two years. We just didn’t have the right makeup, and that cost us,” Karaban mentioned. “We just weren’t defensively minded. We’ve always been tough defensively, and I think last year we just weren’t doing what we were expected to do.
“We’re taking extra pleasure, realizing for the returners who have been hear last 12 months, the way it value us our objectives. And it is also bringing in guys like Silas Demery, Malachi Smith – particularly Silas, his lead assault as a defender and the way it’s modified our outlook defensively on the level guard place.”
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the first to win three NCAA championships as a player. Lynn Shackelford was a teammate on the Bruins’ 1967, 68 and 69 title teams, but Abdul-Jabbar – even when he was going by Lew Alcindor – was first in line alphabetically.
Also, he was the greatest player in the history of the college game.
Another dozen Bruins followed those two to triple-championship glory by 1973, when Larry Farmer and Larry Hollyfield claimed the last of theirs.
One of those players was Andy Hill, a 6-0 guard who never averaged more than 2.7 points but appeared in all three Final Fours during his career. He later wrote a book about his relationship with Wooden and became a highly successful executive in the entertainment business. His most lasting contribution to the sport was his introduction of the plus-minus statistics following his UCLA career.
“I suppose all the fellows in that group performed for one man. I do not suppose it is a coincidence,” Hill told SN. “It’s arduous to do. It’s unbelievably arduous to do. And seven in a row? It’s virtually foolish.
“I’m a spectator. I had the best seat in the house. I’m not sitting here saying I was… but what I also learned enough over time in organizations: Wow, I was on three championship teams. For anyone to be on three championship teams and be part of the group and practice every day and participate in the group dynamic that it takes to get to the finish line and win, everyone deserves a ring at that point.
“Obviously, this child (Karaban) has had a spectacular profession. I want him all of the luck.”
Since the UCLA dynasty ended in 1975 with Wooden’s 10th title, there have been few players who even had the opportunity to take a run at a third championship ring.
After Duke won it in 1991 and 1992, stars Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill and regulars Thomas Hill and Marty Clark were together again in the 1992-93 season, That Blue Devils team earned a No. 3 NCAA seed and was upset in the second round by Jason Kidd and California.
Hurley also had a chance to get three rings had the Devils of his freshman year won when they reached the 1990 championship game against UNLV, but he was ill and the team was blown out by 30 points.
“After my first-year loss, in Denver, I questioned how we might get again once more. But then I watched Grant Hill play pickup and I felt optimistic once more,” Hurley informed SN. “The Cal loss stung in the moment, coupled with the finality of my college career ending and knowing I would never play for Coach K again.
“With what I know now about the coaching, and how difficult it is to win any game, an 18-2 record in the NCAA Tournament and two chips isn’t too shabby.”
Hill, Lang and Clark almost obtained that third, returning to the championship sport in 1994 after defeating Purdue and Glenn Robinson within the Elite Eight and Florida within the semifinals. Arkansas clinched a decent sport with a late 3-pointer from guard Scotty Thurman that is still probably the most legendary play in Razorbacks basketball historical past.
Florida received consecutive titles, in 2006 and 2007, however guard Lee Humphrey was a senior, the junior frontcourt of Joakim Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer all left one season of eligibility unspent, and so did level guard Taurean Green. The solely participant who may need received three was guard Walter Hodge, however the Gators failed to succeed in the NCAAs in every of their ultimate two seasons.
Until UConn went back-to-back on this decade, extra champions didn’t make the event the next season than returned to the Final Four (exactly none). Imagine how arduous it’s to get there and win thrice.
Hill defined there was no “Super Bowl Hangover” for the Bruins once they have been pursuing their third championship in 1971-72, as a result of that was the 12 months Bill Walton turned eligible to take over at heart.
“He was just a whirlwind,” Hill said. “But the second time, my junior year, it was a little bit like that. We sort of slogged through the season, and guys were playing for pro contracts, and we won half the games in the last 2 or 3 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, it was, ‘Gosh, I guess we better play the way coach told us to play.’
“It’s hard to go after something as hard as you have to if you feel hung over. It’s an appropriate metaphor.”
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Because Karaban is the only on-court link to those two championship teams, UConn does not arrive to the tournament dealing with that sort of ennui. The Huskies are just trying to get better.
They lost two of their four most recent games, including one against 12-20 Marquette on the final day of the regular season. Gifted freshman wing Braylon Mullins has become something of a measure of UConn’s success – or, more accurately, failure. I shot 6-of-24 from the field in the two most recent losses. The Huskies need him to provide a consistent offensive threat in order to be true championship contender.
The defense has been exceptional, with muscular center Tarris Reed blocking shots and Demery and wing Solo Ball blocking up opposing guards. You don’t win championships in college basketball on defense, though.
You can lose them there, but you win them on offense, where UConn ranks just 30th in the nation in efficiency.
“With those teams, it’s really getting score-stop-score. We were so dominant on the defensive end, and we really capitalized on other teams’ mistakes,” Karaban said. “The first two years, we played a full, 40-minute game. And right now, we’re trying to get to that. We’ve allowed other teams to go on runs, or we’re not playing our best basketball during certain stretches. So, really making sure we can be dominant with a score-stop-score mentality and really do it for the full 40.”
Although he did not excel at the Big East Tournament, scoring just 14 points combined in the final two games, Karaban is not the issue. He has been a consistent source of offense, perimeter shooting and rebounding and is shooting .386 from long distance, up from .347 a year ago.
“I think it’s just confidence in who I am as a player. I think last year I let it slip,” Karaban said. “And when I had shooting slumps, I really let I affect who I was as a player instead of focusing on leading the team and doing other things well on the court. I just fell so hard into that shooting slump I let everything else be affected.
“This year, just new mindset where it doesn’t matter how you shoot, just attack the game different ways and making leading my main priority for this team.”
When Karaban celebrated his Senior Night at UConn, it was no shock to see tears, not with how completely he has invested himself within the Huskies’ success. He claimed to not be “an emotional person”, nevertheless it did not look that approach as he addressed the gang at Gampel Pavilion and expressed his gratitude for 4 years of help.
The Huskies wrecked Seton Hall within the sport that preceded their deal with. “Thank God,” he mentioned then, “because I couldn’t with a loss in this last game.” It wasn’t the last sport, actually. There was nonetheless New York and now these video games in Philadelphia and probably a highway to be adopted through Washington and on to Indianapolis.
If Connecticut wins all of them, he’ll go away these Huskies followers with one thing no participant outdoors the UCLA dynasty has introduced to his fan base. He’ll stand alone, and with 15 different legends.
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