INDIANAPOLIS – Alec Millender and Dwayne Koroma committed to UConn the same week in May. Most Husky fans had no idea who they were, but they were both seeking the same thing.
Millender, who played for IU Indy last season as a senior for over 30 minutes per game, shot Koroma a direct message asking when he’d arrive on campus, and the rest is history. The two have grown incredibly close, going from mid-major starters to riding the bench for a Final Four team, and it was all intentional. And they’re not the only ones either.
Arizona’s Evan Nelson graduated from Harvard and decided that it was worth passing up the opportunity to start at a mid-major program to return home to Tucson and chase a title with the Wildcats.
In a situation where many players would choose to play big minutes for a mid-major program with their final year of eligibility, these guys are totally fine sitting on the sidelines as their McDonald’s All-American, five-star teammates lead the team to new heights. But they’re a big part of that too.
UConn has been to three of the last four Final Fours, but Millender didn’t miss the one that the Huskies did. A year ago, Millender flew to San Antonio to cover the Final Four as part of his graduate journalism program at IU Indianapolis.
Now, he’s back in the Final Four as a player.
“UConn was my dream school,” Millender said on Friday. “Making the Final Four wasn’t really a priority. It was just how I wanted my last year to go. When UConn came into the fold, I knew I wanted this experience.”
Millender has only played 58 minutes all season, and averages less than a point per game, but he’s not mad about any of it.
“There are those moments where you think, ‘I wish I could have come in and played here,’” Millender said in an interview with CT Insider. “And I see some friends playing 30 minutes a game (with lower-level programs), but I’ve always felt like comparison is the thief of joy. Even when I went DII, and I saw all these other players going DI, it was ‘Never compare. Just focus on what you’re doing.’”
He’s cherished the experience with of playing in the Big East and the NCAA Tournament. He mentions getting the chance to play at Madison Square Garden and other iconic venues, taking charter jets and playing with some of the most talented players in the country.
Millender played three seasons at Division II Wayne State before moving up to IU Indy last year, so everything around big-time college basketball is new to him, and he’s loved every minute of it.
“I’ll be able to get better at basketball,” Millender said. “Learn basketball, get coached by legendary coaches, play with some high-major talent in my teammates. I might not get the minutes I wanted, but I got the experience. I got to meet new people. I got connections. I just wanted this experience.”
One of those new people, Koroma, has been one of his closest friends, as they have the shared experience of sitting on the UConn bench as a senior, but they find a way to contribute.
Koroma got some minutes early in the year when Tarris Reed was hurt, and Millender had to step in for some big minutes against Furman in the NCAA Tournament when Silas Demary got hurt. But the two have mostly been relegated to the bench.
It has furthered their bond.
“I love (Dwayne) to death,” Millender said. “I’m gonna invite him to my wedding. We’ve kind of been able to talk about it. On bad days, we talk to each other. We’ve been there for each other.”
Koroma started his career at Iona in 2020-21 before going to play JUCO at Salt Lake. Then, he bounced from UT Arlington to Le Moyne, and with the Dolphins, he averaged double digits. But the Dolphins weren’t very good, struggling to a 4-12 record in the NEC.
The team fought through a plethora of injuries but couldn’t get going late in the season and ended up tied for last place in the conference. It stung for Koroma.
“Dwayne doesn’t like losing at all,” Le Moyne head coach Nate Champion told Mid-Major Madness. “He went into the portal and was looking for a situation that would provide him an opportunity to play in meaningful games. And when UConn called and asked about him, what they described to him was what he was looking for.”
“We had the conversation about going into the portal and (Champion) was super supportive,” Koroma told Mid-Major Madness. “It was important for me, for my last year of college, to go somewhere where I can really win something.”
Going through a losing season at Le Moyne made it even clearer in Koroma’s head that he wanted to find a place where he could win, regardless of how much he would play.
He still sometimes nudges Millender when the Huskies are on a charter flight or in a big time game, as two guys who came from a much lower level of the game, to express disbelief.
“We look at each other like ‘man, we can’t believe this is our reality now,’” Koroma said. “This is what we prayed about. I feel like out of everybody, he can relate the most.”
But they’re not just along for the ride. To make a Final Four, everybody has to be pulling in the same direction. And for a program to have two players with as much collegiate experience as those two do put all ego aside and find their spot on the sled is a great example for younger players.
Freshman big man Eric Reibe hails from Germany, just like Koroma, and the two talk every day. Even though Reibe was already in the States playing high school ball at Bullis, having another German on the roster helped him adjust.
Both Millender and Koroma leave a strong impression on their teammates for their ability to lead by example.
“It’s hard to be on this kind of championship team and in your fourth year or fifth year not playing,” Reibe told Mid-Major Madness. “But them being in practice every single day, giving everything is really inspiring too. They’re like the glue guys around here.”
They’ve helped Reibe with his mental toughness, keeping him moving forward when things don’t go his way.
Reibe was UConn’s leading scorer in a November blockbuster matchup against Arizona, but the Wildcats came out on top, 71-67. On the Wildcats bench, Nelson watched a monumental program win for the program that he grew up cheering for.
A Tucson native, Nelson had to leave Harvard, as graduate students aren’t allowed to play in the Ivy League. Using a medical redshirt from an injury that kept him out of the 2023-24 season, Nelson had a few options.
He told Mid-Major Madness that he was going to take a visit to Furman, but he “wasn’t shopping around much,” in the transfer portal. He knew he probably wasn’t going to be the next TJ McConnell, but he wanted to put on that same jersey.
“It’s easier to come back here and be part of (getting the program back) to where I think it should be,” Nelson said. “Loving the program growing up, seeing the success that we had, it was kind of a no-brainer to me when I had the chance to be part of it and join.”
Nelson has played just 5.4% of Arizona’s minutes, a far cry from the 29 and 27 minutes per contest that he played in his final two healthy seasons at Harvard, but he’s learned a ton in his time with the Wildcats.
“At Harvard, I got a really great education in the classroom,” he said. “Here, I feel like I learned a tremendous amount on the court. Call it a Ph.D. in basketball.”
“I’ve got a well-rounded basketball experience,” Nelson said. “Hopefully, if I choose to continue playing or going into coaching, I’ll just have a better perspective.”
Nelson is a Wildcat through and through. He loved Rawle Alkins, Derrick Williams, and Kyle Fogg.
But he’s now part of a team that went further than any of those.
From the perspective of mid-major programs, it’s already difficult to retain your best players, but when high-majors are even claiming a few potential stars or role guys from you in the portal, stashing them away on the bench, it can be even more challenging.
But it takes the right kid.
“When those schols do call,” Champion said. “And you have a legitimate chance to play in meaningful games, I think it’s hard for some of these kids not to pass it up. But it depends on what your goal is. If you’re set on playing, you’re probably not going to take a role like that.”
As for Nelson, Koroma and Millender, they’re the know-your-role all-stars of the Final Four.
They knew what they were getting into, and they’ve gotten out essentially everything that you can get out of it to this point. And these programs need guys like that.
“When you look across the board at Elite Eight and Sweet 16 teams,” Champion said. “I think identifying roles and having complete buy-in to roles is really big. When you understand what you’re looking for and how to go after that, it doesn’t always mean you look for the highest-rated player.”
But even if they don’t see the floor on Saturday or Monday, all three agree that their decision has been validated.
“It’s well worth the sacrifice,” Nelson said.
“This season’s been nothing short of amazing,” Millender said.
“When I came on my visit, (making a deep NCAA Tournament run) was what the staff was talking about,” Koroma said. “They’re like ‘We’re not here to go to the Final Four, we’re here to win national championships.’ We’re not done yet, but it’s an amazing feeling.”
