UConn Forward Ranked No. 1 Junior In America; Is First Round Of NBA Draft Next?

The Huskies might have the best third-year player in the country

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As Dan Hurley’s UConn Huskies look to become the first team to three-peat since the days of John Wooden, a junior forward from Southborough, Massachusetts could be stepping into the limelight.

Alex Karaban’s value as a player is no secret. The six-foot-eight do-it-all forward was named Preseason First-Team All-American for a reason.

Each of Karaban’s basketball attributes seems to contribute to winning: Alert awareness as a help defender. Knockdown distance shooter. Timely cutter. Underrated rebounder. Unselfish team player.

It’s for the above reasons that Karaban will fit like a glove on an NBA roster. When you have two or three ball-dominant players carrying the load, Karaban will complement those stars by doing all the little things. He’ll also hit the big shot when you need him to.

Karaban is the type of player who wins championships, and it’s no surprise that he’s yet to fall short of a title since wearing a UConn uniform.

As Karaban enters his junior season, he’ll be relied upon in a new role as leader of this iteration of Hurley’s Huskies. He’s also finally starting to get his flowers, as ESPN’s Andy Katz’s new ranking of Karaban as the No. 1 Junior in the nation suggests. 

Karaban will never be the flashiest player on his team, but he’ll always be among the most important.

To understand what makes Hurley’s teams dominant, watching Karaban on a possession-by-possession basis is a good starting point.

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