One of college basketball’s most prolific winners is taking his resume and success to the next level. Fittingly, one of the kings of UConn basketball in recent years will be a King in the NBA.
Alex Karaban, the winningest player in UConn men’s basketball history, is now an NBA Draft pick after the Husky legend was selected 29th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the draft Tuesday before being traded to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for the 34th overall pick. The Kings were one of seven teams with whom Karaban had a pre-draft workout, and Sacramento will add the UConn great to a draft haul that includes Arkansas guard Darius Acuff, Jr., who was chosen with the seventh overall selection earlier in the night.
Karaban joins Tarris Reed, Jr., taken 26th overall by the Denver Nuggets before being traded to the San Antonio Spurs, as UConn players drafted this year, and becomes the 11th player coached by Dan Hurley to hear his name called among the 60 players chosen each year. The move to the professional ranks comes just two months after the 6-foot-8 forward wrapped up one of the most decorated careers in college basketball’s modern era, becoming the first player in over 50 years to lead his team to three Final Fours in four seasons as the Huskies advanced to the national championship game, falling to eventual winner Michigan.
The Southborough, Massachusetts native was responsible for 126 wins during his tenure in Storrs, playing in 151 games and winning national championships in both his freshman and sophomore campaigns. Prior to his final home game on February 28 against Seton Hall, Karaban was inducted into the Huskies of Honor, the first active UConn player to receive that distinction. He followed the ceremony with a heroic final on-campus impression, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting and making five of his six 3-point attempts as the Huskies defeated the Pirates.
Karaban refused to go out on his sword in the NCAA Tournament, scoring 22 points in UConn’s first-round win over Furman before authoring one of his finest hours two days later, tallying a career-best 27 points to lift the Huskies past UCLA and into the Sweet 16. The veteran did not stop there, however, adding his name into another piece of timeless UConn lore as his pass to Braylon Mullins in the final seconds of the Huskies’ improbable come-from-behind victory over Duke in the East Regional final triggered a 35-foot answered prayer that will live on in the annals of March history year after year.
Karaban’s workmanlike nature was on display one more time in Indianapolis, where he ended the UConn chapter of his story with 17 points and 11 rebounds in a 69-63 loss to Michigan on April 6. Often praised by Hurley for his ability to be consistently selfless in a game and society that continues to cater to flamboyant personalities, the Husky coach again sold prospective general managers on a player the likes of which he has said he may never coach again.
“You have a chance to bring in a grown-up, professional, championship-level player, a Cam Spencer-type of guy who’s 6-foot-8, into your organization,” Hurley said at UConn’s media availability on June 18. “If you’re picking in the late first round, how do you not pick him? I mean, if I’m a team in the twenties and I’ve got a choice between maybe a moderately more talented player that has questionable makeup in terms of building a championship, or a winning organization, just how do you pass on Karaban?”
Karaban worked out for the Kings in May, and left a strong enough impression on his new team to where it was compelled to move back into the first round in the event that he was not available at No. 34, the Kings’ second-round slot. He brings not only a winning pedigree to Sacramento, but also an innate sense of fundamentals that will undoubtedly give him a leg up as he navigates the nuances of a professional career.
“You see how important situational basketball is when you watch the (NBA) Finals,” Hurley said. “Getting a guy like Alex on your team, who plays situational basketball, is so critical. Obviously, a lot of teams value just the pedigree, the skill set. I think such a big thing in the NBA is your ability to have role guys that can play off of two really ball-dominant players, and Alex has shown expertise to be an all-NBA role player. (He has) an ability to space the court, make shots, get on the glass, (is a) good cutter, underrated defensive player.”
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