The UConn men’s basketball program will be well-represented at NBA All-Star weekend this year.
All four Huskies taken in the 2024 NBA Draft – Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton – were recognized for their early success in the pros and selected to play in the Rising Stars Challenge, which will tip off the festivities on Feb. 13 from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Castle, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year with the San Antonio Spurs, will be participating in the tournament for the second year in a row, though it hasn’t been announced whether he’ll return to the dunk contest. But this year he will be joined by three of the other starters on UConn’s dominant 2024 national championship team with Clingan and Spencer also selected among the group of 11 NBA sophomores, and Newton as one of the G League representatives.
The Rising Stars Challenge includes four teams, three made up of rookies and sophomores which were drafted on Tuesday night and one of G League stars. There will be three games with the winners of the first two playing to decide a champion.
Castle and Clingan – the two lottery picks at No. 4 and No. 7 overall, respectively – will be reunited after they were both drafted to Carmelo Anthony’s loaded roster that includes 2025 No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, Reed Sheppard, Dylan Harper, Jeremiah Fears and Collin Murray-Boyles.
Castle has become a fixture in the Spurs starting lineup and has seen his numbers rise to 16.6 points, 7.0 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game this season. Clingan, the Bristol native, also became a full-time starter this year for the Portland Trail Blazers and is averaging 11.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game.
Spencer is nearly putting together a 50/40/90 season for the Memphis Grizzlies at 48% shooting from the field, 45.8% from 3 and 92.1% from the foul line, while averaging 11.8 points, 5.7 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game. He was drafted to Tracy McGrady’s roster, which includes Kon Knueppel, Kel’el Ware, Tre Johnson, Alex Sarr, Ajay Mitchell and Jaylon Tyson.
UConn in the NBA: Stephon Castle, Cam Spencer among former Huskies thriving this season
The G League roster includes Newton, along with Yang Hansen, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, David Jones Garcia, Alijah Martin, Ron Harper Jr and Sean East II.
“Just so proud. The joy of coaching,” UConn coach Dan Hurley told The Courant after his 2025-26 Huskies, captained by Alex Karaban, the fifth starter from that championship squad, won their 16th consecutive game Tuesday night to improve to 20-1 on the year.
“You’re pursuing the wins and the championships, and just your perspective of the other part of coaching that brings you the most joy is to see your young men go into the world and become successful, successful in basketball, successful outside of basketball – husbands, fathers, family men. Obviously that was a special group,” Hurley said. “Now, if we could just free Hawk (Jordan Hawkins). I would love to free Hawk, and I’d like to free A-Jax (Andre Jackson Jr.).”
Hawkins was selected 14th overall by the New Orleans Pelicans after winning the 2023 national title and hasn’t been able to find a stable role in his third year in the league. He’s averaged just 14.1 minutes over 35 games played this season.
Jackson is in a similar boat after playing in 67 games and starting 43 last season for the Milwaukee Bucks, who drafted him at No. 36 overall in 2023. He has only found his way onto the court 20 times this season and only played more than 15 minutes once.
