UConn HC Explains Alex Karaban’s Calm Entering Final Season
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The UConn Huskies keep winning, and it’s starting to feel routine again. The Huskies are 10-1 this season and just ended the toughest non-conference slate in recent memory. Their last game was against the Texas Longhorns, and the Huskies closed the match with a 71–63 win.
In a game that never fully loosened, Alex Karaban looked entirely at ease. He scored 18 points on 8-of-14 shooting and made timely threes. It was another night where nothing about him felt rushed, and that calm, as well as his leadership, has become the story of his final season. Soon after the match, Dan Hurley went on to talk about Karaban’s newfound calm.
“I think last year gave him perspective," Hurley said. "I don’t think he’s approaching this season with any level of entitlement. You go back-to-back champs your first two years in college, and it’s a joy ride, and then you have a tough third year together."
"I think losing that entitlement and just being grateful to have another opportunity, to have his last run at UConn, he knows he’s got a strong team around him, a stronger team this year, and that’s given him a lot of confidence.”
After back-to-back national championships to start his career, the ride had been smooth, almost surreal. The 2022-23 team featured players such as Adama Sanogo, Jordan Hawkins, Andre Jackson Jr., Tristen Newton, Joey Calcaterra, and Hassan Diarra. The following year, the team improved even further.
The 2023-24 team had a roster that included Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer, Clingan, and Karaban. The team was so good that, after the Longhorns' match, Sean Miller even said, “I put them up there with Coach K’s teams. They were incredible, that second team especially.”
LOUD NOISES pic.twitter.com/d25NsexM75
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) December 13, 2025
Then came a more challenging year, both individually and collectively, accompanied by a reset. Last season was a sad one for both Hurley and the Huskies. The Huskies ended their season 24-11 with a 14-6 record in conference play.
The numbers back up that emotional shift. Karaban’s role has grown every season, and so has his responsibility. As a freshman on a championship team, he averaged 9.3 points while shooting over 40 percent from three.
Then came Karaban’s sophomore season, during which his numbers jumped to 13.3 points, accompanied by nearly 50 percent shooting from the field. Last season, with increased usage, he averaged 14.3 points, added playmaking skills, and defended multiple positions.
This year, Karaban has been consistent and composed. He is averaging 13.8 points per game, shooting 51.4 percent, and making 44 percent from deep through 11 games. Hurley says there is another reason for this consistency.
“I think the fact that the year went the way it went for him and for us last year had absolutely no impact on his draft stock," Hurley said. "He was still going to be drafted, late first, early second, after probably a year where he wasn’t anywhere near his best. The NBA has made a decision that he’s a guy that’s going to be picked in the 20s or early 30s. He knows that. He’s established that."
"Now he’s relaxed, attacking the year, and really enjoying his last season at UConn. Me and him are just trying to enjoy every practice, every game, and every moment together because it’s coming to an end."
The game-to-game flow tells the story Hurley is describing. Karaban has had big nights, with 21 against BYU, 20 against Columbia, 19 in the opener, but he’s also stayed impactful when shots didn’t fall.
Karaban rebounds, moves the ball, protects the rim in stretches, and rarely forces offense. The calm has also pushed him into UConn history. With his Texas performance, Karaban passed the 1,500-point mark for his career, now sitting 21st on the program’s all-time scoring list.
Will Dan Hurley’s NBA Prediction Stand True for Alex Karaban?
If Hurley sounds confident about Karaban’s NBA future, the mock drafts agree, just with slightly different timelines. ESPN projects him early in the second round, slotting him 38th overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Meanwhile, Bleacher Report has him at 44 to the Charlotte Hornets.
“There's always been interest in Alex Karaban," Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman wrote. "There just hasn't been overwhelming love after he's shown minimal improvement from year to year…There won't be any mystery around Karaban's NBA role. He'll play the same one Sam Hauser does, providing shooting and intangibles."
CBS’s Adam Finkelstein places Karaban even higher at 28th overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers. The factor that ties the projections together is not star value, but certainty. That clarity is rare, and it’s why Hurley’s prediction hasn’t changed even as Karaban’s demeanor has softened.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.