How Dan Hurley might construct UConn’s 2026-27 roster

The college basketball transfer portal opened at midnight on Tuesday, while UConn was still in its locker room taking in its loss to Michigan in the national championship game Monday night. Thousands of players have already made their decision to change schools, or at least test their NIL market in the portal.

As of Thursday morning, none have been Huskies.

Though, coach Dan Hurley said on the Dan Patrick Show Thursday, that doesn’t really change much.

“There’s tampering that goes on the entire year, so even players that aren’t in the portal, I mean, everyone’s in the portal,” he said, revealing that there are only four or five players that he knows will remain on his roster heading into the 2026-27 season.

The Huskies are only certain to lose the two main figures in their NCAA Tournament run in captain Alex Karaban and center Tarris Reed Jr., along with bench players Malachi Smith, Alec Millender and Dwayne Koroma, who have all expired their eligibility. Freshman Braylon Mullins is certainly a candidate to be an early entrant into the NBA Draft, where he could hear his name called somewhere in the first round.

Hurley’s philosophy when it comes to advising players in Mullins’ situation is: “Unless it absolutely makes total sense for you to go in the draft, unless you know you’re gonna be a lottery pick or guaranteed to go top-15, top-18, the biggest mistake you can make right now as a college basketball player is going to the draft too early and not staying long enough in college because of obviously the money situation.”

UConn Notes: Braylon Mullins finished freshman season ‘like a man,’ now has tough decision to make

He said the first thing he’ll ask Mullins and his family is whether he likes everything that goes into being a college player: the balance of going to study halls and classes with the rigorous practices that are much different from the NBA, and the coach being in charge of the whole operation.

As for the money situation, he said a player in Mullins’ situation “could probably make more money at UConn next year than he would if he was the 15th pick.”

Who could stay at UConn for 2026-27?

It would seem to be mutually beneficial for UConn to keep its backcourt in tact with point guard Silas Demary Jr. and Solo Ball. Both could return and continue their development to get onto the NBA radar as seniors next season after dealing with their own respective injuries throughout the year.

Demary could use another year in the Huskies’ system to show all that he can do now that he’s comfortable and knows what it takes. Ball was dealing with a wrist sprain for most of the year and a foot sprain to end it, and saw his numbers take a hit as a result. He could prove himself as a shooter and see a significant rise in his draft stock after another year in college.

Center Eric Reibe could return and potentially compete for a starting spot as a sophomore, though the Huskies will need to bolster the center position through the transfer portal. As for Jayden Ross and Jaylin Stewart, they’ve been loyal to the program this far, but their respective roles could be more of a factor heading into their senior seasons.

It isn’t clear what the rest of the Huskies’ bench might end up choosing. Freshman Jacob Furphy was thought to be in position to fight for minutes, but he dealt with an injury early in the year and never got much of a chance. Minutes could remain hard to come by for Jacob Ross, who redshirted this season, and little-used international players Rrezon Elezaj and Uros Paunovic.

Which approach will the Huskies take?

Hurley described the position UConn is in as a “crossroads.”

“We’ve got to decide, who do we want to be? Do we want to try to hold the line and just go retention, high school recruiting and maybe cherry pick a need in the portal? Or are we at a point where it’s like, wipe the board every year and try to put together the most talented team that you can? We have our first national champion that was comprised of (almost) all transfers in Michigan,” he said. “Right now we’re processing the best way for us to move forward because you’ve got players on your team that are obviously right now weighing what they want to do. But also, from a program standpoint, you also have all these players that have entered the portal who are also reaching out to UConn that would like to potentially play here too.”

UConn has two four-star freshmen set to join the program in big-bodied 6-foot-6 wing Colben Landrew and 6-foot-4 guard Junior County. Landrew, a national high school player of the year candidate this past season, figures to be further along as a contender for immediate playing time.

Where are UConn men’s basketball stars being projected to go in NBA Draft?

Potential portal targets

The Huskies will have to “cherry pick” at some level in the portal to maintain a roster that has a chance at another championship run. They have already reportedly been in contact with a handful of players as they look to fill some key roles, like Ohio State forward Devin Royal, St. Mary’s center Andrew McKeever, Seton Hall center Najai Hines, Furman guard Alex Wilkins and Charleston Southern guard (and Waterbury native) A’Lahn Sumler, among others.

Royal, a 6-foot-6 power forward, has already picked up a 247Sports “Crystal Ball” prediction to join the Huskies as a potential replacement for Karaban. He’s averaged 13.7 points per game in back-to-back seasons and is a capable rebounder, though 3-point shooting is an area of his game that has improved steadily, up to 31% from beyond the arc this past season.

McKeever, a 7-foot-2, 285-pound rising junior, averaged 8.2 points and 9.2 rebounds in just over 23 minutes per game this past season and could add even more height to the center position with Reibe. Hines is more similar in size to Reed at 6-foot-10, 265 pounds, and just missed out on a Big East all-Freshman Team nod averaging 6.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in just 18 minutes per game off the bench for the Pirates.

UConn was well aware of Wilkins’ game in scouting Furman ahead of their matchup in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament. A 6-foot-5 guard from the Boston area, it was clear that Wilkins would be getting high-major interest as he went for 21 points on 4 of 8 shooting from beyond the arc in that tournament game. He averaged 17.8 points and 4.7 assists per game on 32.8% shooting from beyond the arc as a freshman.

Sumler attended Buford High in Georgia before beginning his college career at Northern Kentucky and transferring to spend the last two seasons at Charleston Southern. He averaged 18.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game this year while shooting 39.6% from beyond the arc.

UConn, with a third trip to the national championship game in four years and a coach in Hurley who is viewed as one of, if not the best in the sport, finds itself as a desirable transfer destination. The next few weeks will be all about who will stick around and which direction the staff decides to head in.

But the Huskies, if they can return Demary, Ball, Stewart, Ross and Reibe, maybe Mullins, should be well-positioned to address their needs in the portal and be a contender again in 2026-27.

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