STORRS – Last March, UConn men’s basketball captain Alex Karaban reflected on the previous summer, acknowledging that he didn’t work enough on improving his offensive variety and his strength on defense. He started feeling the consequences.
With just a glance at the 6-foot-8 forward during the 2025-26 team’s first open practice on Friday, it was clear he took that to heart.
Karaban was visibly stronger, sturdier on the defensive end and rarely missed a shot. Unofficial scoring during the scrimmage portion of the event for local media and donors credited the senior captain with 26 points and six made 3-pointers.
“His first two years in college – minus that January, none of us still know what happened in January ’23, someone should study that month. … His first two years in college were a joy ride and then I think going through a season like last year where it wasn’t a team that was functioning at the level of his first two years, I think it affected everyone’s level of play,” coach Dan Hurley said.
“I think guys that went in the portal will play better in their new places and I think the returning players that come back here will play better. It didn’t work out, it didn’t happen, it didn’t come together the way we all planned.”
‘Refreshed’ UConn men’s basketball program offers first look at 2025-26 team in open practice
Karaban dealt with a significant shooting slump for much of the Big East season and couldn’t make up for the team’s struggles across the board. He finished the year with career-low shooting splits at 43.8% from the field and 34.7% from beyond the arc, and felt the burden of captaining a unit that couldn’t match up with the previous two national championship teams he was a part of.
“What you learn from that, you get a lot tougher,” Hurley said. “You get mentally tougher when you’ve kind of got to drag yourself through a tough year in your life, dealing with adversity like that. I think it’s made him mentally tougher, I think it identified areas where he’s really got to work on his game and I think you saw how sharp his game looked today making hard shots, making contested 3s… I think he’s really strong going into this year and confident.”
Braylon Mullins shows off full skillset
In Hurley fashion, summer practices aren’t supposed to be easy for freshmen.
But the Huskies’ head coach was already ready to project Braylon Mullins, his third five-star recruit in as many years, as one of the best shooters in college basketball for the 2025-26 season. More than his ability to hit shots from beyond the arc, the 6-foot-5 wing from Greenfield, Indiana, showed his full skillset on Friday as he made plays off the drive and dove for loose balls.
“The shooting is the first thing that stands out, as well as some shotmaking that doesn’t involve just 3s, the fact he can make them off the dribble too and from deep. But I think there’s some toughness there, I think that there’s a seriousness, I think he’s gonna be able to guard people. And I think he’s gonna be able to finish at the rim because he’s like really bouncy, sneaky bouncy,” Hurley said.
“He’s a serious guy and he’s got the benefit of being out there with a fourth-year senior, Alex, a third-year Solo (Ball), a fourth-year Tarris (Reed Jr.), some veteran point guards that are experienced and have been successful. So he’s gonna be surrounded by veterans, Jayden Ross, Jaylin Stewart, third-year juniors. A lot of veterans around him.”
Will he start?
“He can definitely put himself in position to earn that,” Hurley said. “Guys have got to earn it, but he certainly can earn it.”
Jaylin Stewart, Jayden Ross to be X-factors at wing
UConn, again, is loaded with wings. And, now juniors, Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross are hoping to solidify their place in the rotation.
“Just getting them to be consistent and to play in a matter – you want to get them to a point where it’s like they play well enough that you don’t want to take them off the court… You’ve got these guys that bring so much value where it’s like – and there’s competition with these guys on the wing for minutes,” Hurley said. “Those two-through-four spots, you’ve got Solo, Braylon, Jayden Ross, Jaylin Stewart, Jacob Furphy, Karaban – you’ve got six guys in kind of three spots for 120 minutes there.”
