UConn Guard Solo Ball in Walking Boot After Final Four Injury: How It Impacts Huskies vs. Michigan

Ball is banged up after UConn’s Final Four win over Illinois, with just one day until the national championship game against the Wolverines.

Solo Ball suffered a foot injury during the Final Four game against Illinois, in which he scored 13 points in 28 minutes. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Midway through the second half of Saturday night’s Final Four game against No. 3 Illinois, UConn guard Solo Ball let a three fly from the top of the arc. The ball clanked off of the back of the rim, kissed the top of the backboard and fell to the front of the rim—which deflected it back off the backboard and gently through the net. The improbable make put the Huskies up 52–40.

With just over four minutes left on the clock, Ball leaked out off of a Fighting Illini miss, catching an outlet pass from Alex Karaban in stride and slamming home a ferocious fast break dunk. Illinois had gotten within four points a few possessions prior, but Ball’s slam extended UConn’s lead to 61–53. Illinois would get within striking distance a few more times down the stretch, but the Huskies were able to keep them at arm’s length, finishing with a 71–62 victory to advance to the national championship.

Ball played 28 minutes in Saturday night’s game, scoring 13 points and knocking down 3-of-7 from deep. Relevantly, he was on the court in the contest’s waning moments.

SOLO BALL WITH THE SLAM 😳

Watch #MFinalFour on TBS pic.twitter.com/9lZWe7aUVx

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 5, 2026

His powerful dunk late in the game certainly didn’t indicate that he was playing through injury, but on Sunday, with just a day to go before the national championship game against Michigan, the junior guard is in a walking boot with what coach Dan Hurley called a sprained foot suffered early in the game.

Ball says he was able to play through the injury thanks to adrenaline, but will be out for UConn’s practice on Sunday. He believes he suffered the injury when his foot got tangled with Huskies center Tarris Reed Jr.’s on a screen.

“I’m feeling all right right now,” he told reporters Sunday. “Just leaving it up to the medical staff.  I’m doing everything I can to prepare for tomorrow."

UConn guard Solo Ball believes he injured his foot on a play with center Tarris Reed Jr. in the first half against Illinois. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

Solo Ball’s stats, March Madness run

Ball, a true junior, was a role player as a freshman when UConn won its last national title in 2024. He emerged as a key contributor for the Huskies last season, averaging 14.4 points on 43.9/41.4/84.1 shooting for the season, adding 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.7 minutes per game.

In 2025–26, Ball has taken a slight step back statistically, with his scoring down to 12.9 points per game, coinciding with a drop in his three-point percentage to 29.6%. Ball is still second on the team in minutes behind Karaban, but the additions of Georgia transfer Silas Demary Jr. and sharpshooting freshman Braylon Mullins have given Hurley more backcourt options this season.

Ball got off to a slow start in the NCAA tournament with the Huskies as a two-seed, scoring nine points on 3-of-12 shooting in the first round against No. 15 Furman and going scoreless in 13 minutes against No. 7 UCLA.

He’s picked it up in the three rounds since, however, with double-digit scoring efforts against No. 3 Michigan State, No. 1 Duke and Illinois, with his game against the Fighting Illini making for arguably his best outing of the NCAA tournament so far.

	Mins	FG%	3P%	FT%	Reb	Ast	Pts.
2025–26	28.7	39.2	29.6	85.2	3.1	1.6	12.9
‘26 NCAAT	25.6	31.9	21.4	88.9	1.8	1.4	8.8

Who will Dan Hurley turn to if Solo Ball is limited or can’t play?

Ball has made it clear that he is preparing to play on Monday.

“Pain is temporary, like people say,” the junior said Sunday, per Sports Illustrated’s Kevin Sweeney. “It pushes you through your toughest moments. It’s only what you’re made of. My pride is in the way of all of that, like, I don’t want to miss the championship game.”

That being said, there are no guarantees with any injury on such a quick turnaround. Luckily for Hurley, he has a deep team and more backcourt options than a year ago.

Demary and Mullins would likely see an increase in workload if Ball can’t go. Mullins has been one of the stories of the tournament, and the freshman’s confidence has only increased after his instantly legendary shot to beat Duke. He played 30 minutes against Illinois, scoring 15 points with three rebounds and two steals.

Demary, the team’s assists leader, followed up his 11-point outing against the Blue Devils with seven points, seven assists and nine rebounds in the win over the Fighting Illini. It should be noted that he is playing through injury as well, but is confident he will be O.K. to play Monday.

Solo’s injury likely opens the door to bigger roles for wing Jayden Ross, who made an impact Saturday with a pair of threes, finishing with seven points in 20 minutes. Jaylin Stewart, another wing, missed the first two games of the tournament, but has played progressively more in each tournament game since his return, playing seven minutes against Illinois.

Senior guard Malachi Smith would also be in line for more time. After averaging 15.8 minutes per game in the regular season, he eclipsed that mark in the first four tournament games, including a nine-point outing in 18 minutes against Duke.

Yaxel Lendeborg missed much of Michigan’s national semifinal game with an injury, but returned in the second half and is preparing to play vs. UConn. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Michigan isn’t completely healthy ahead of Monday’s game either

The Wolverines’ best player, forward Yaxel Lendeborg, missed much of the first half with ankle and MCL injuries. He ultimately returned to play 14 minutes against No. 1 Arizona, lasting deeper into the second half than many expected Dusty May would allow given Michigan’s comfortable victory.

May said Sunday that Lendeborg’s imaging came back “clean” and that he expects the veteran forward to be out there on Monday.

Dusty May: Yaxel Lendeborg’s imaging came back clean. “I’m sure he’ll give it a go tomorrow.” Said Yax played the second half “like a 38 year old at the YMCA. A really good 38 year old.”

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) April 5, 2026

Lendeborg was glad he was able to get some shots up in the second half on Saturday, and confirmed after the win over Arizona that he has no intentions of missing the national title game.

“I was able to get back out there, at least start the second half to see how I felt,” he said. “I wanted to get two, three threes up, just to feel the rim for Monday. Because there’s no way I’m missing that.”

With his foot in a boot, Ball’s situation feels a bit less clear, though he certainly has the same intentions a day before he has a chance to play for his second national championship.

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