HARTFORD, Conn. — The beloved Peanuts character Linus was never seen without his blue security blanket, yet was frequently one of the more learned and intellectual subjects in Charles Schulz’s iconic comic strip.
For 151 games across four years, Alex Karaban afforded a similar talisman for UConn fans, as the Husky legend became an anachronism in today’s college basketball world simply by staying in one place throughout his career. So trusted and reliable was he that head coach Dan Hurley once said that his UConn players got a better education on the floor in live-game situations from Karaban than they would from Hurley himself.
The first chapter of UConn’s life without its all-time winningest player, now a member of the Sacramento Kings, begins Tuesday, when the Huskies play their first of three exhibition games this month, entertaining former adversary Syracuse inside Mohegan Sun Arena. But while Karaban has moved on, the wisdom he imparted lives on in his former teammates, all of whom are eager to carry his torch as well as their own in a season rife with the standard high expectations that consistently permeate the basketball capital of the world.
“I just thought about that while I was driving over here, of how bad it sucks to not have Alex,” Hurley said one day before UConn’s first game experience of the new season. “The thing with AK was, just his seriousness, his preparation, his leadership, his consistency; no matter how you felt about your team, you knew you always had Mr. Reliable. So it’s a different type of feel.”
“With this team, you feel that way about Silas (Demary, Jr.), you feel that way about Braylon (Mullins) and Solo (Ball) when they’re healthy, and hopefully you feel that way about Jayden Ross as part of a nucleus of players we’ve brought back to the program. I’m just excited to see kind of where we are and things we gotta scrap, things we gotta improve, things that are encouraging. You just really want to get to some of these exhibitions so you can start learning things about your team.”
Karaban and center Tarris Reed, Jr. were both selected in the first round of the NBA Draft this past June, with backup point guard Malachi Smith the other mainstay in the Husky rotation to graduate in the spring. UConn only has five returning players in the program this season, but that number did not faze Hurley, who spoke earlier this month at Big East media day about the lasting culture within the program and player development that has become a trademark under the two-time national champion architect’s aegis, which now enters its tenth season.
“We don’t want to stray too far from how we’ve built the program,” Hurley said. “Culture and player development, a lot of the time, is gonna mean that you’re coaching younger players when a lot of people in the sport are trying to get as old as possible. It’s much more of a grind trying to get a 17, 18, 19-year-old to play high-level basketball than it is (for) a 23-year-old. We love that part of the job, though.”
“Being a part of Colben Landrew’s development, Junior County, Steph Castle, Donovan Clingan, Jayden Ross, Braylon, to me, it’s the best part of the job. That’s how we’ve built the program.”
UConn’s sustainability in part helped Hurley secure Duke wing Nik Khamenia in the transfer portal this offseason, presumably as the de facto replacement for Karaban at the four spot alongside Jayden Ross and fellow transfer Na’jai Hines (Seton Hall) in a new-look Husky frontcourt. Freshman Colben Landrew, who was the fourth straight UConn player to be named the Big East’s preseason Freshman of the Year, has also generated buzz for his professional prospects, which prompted Hurley to highlight his program’s track record while also reminding everyone that there is no additional pressure placed upon his players to add to UConn’s lineage in the professional ranks.
“We’ve done player development,” the coach reiterated. “We’ve done a four-year guy like an Alex or a Tarris as a transfer who stayed and developed, and it took multiple years to become a first-rounder. We’ve had those intermediate players like a (Jordan Hawkins) or a (James) Bouknight, that maybe it took two years to become a lottery pick, and then we’ve had the one-and-dones like Steph and Liam (McNeeley).”
“We’re never going to hold the player back, but we’re also not going to lie to a player and tell them that we’ve got some magic dust that we can sprinkle on them that’s gonna make them a pro. So you just come into a program like ours, put the blinders on, work hard, and eventually the NBA will come for you and tell you when it’s time to leave.”
Karaban was a significant part in shaping and emboldening the culture at UConn, and his biggest contribution to the program has come after his departure, preparing the next generation to pick up where he left off.
“I think just how we attack every day,” Jayden Ross, who played alongside Karaban for three years prior to this season, said when asked what he and his teammates learned from the Husky stalwart. “From practice to being in the weight room, just taking care of everything off the court so that when you get on the court, you just feel so prepared. He was probably one of, probably right behind Coach Hurley, the most prepared person every single game. He knew what he wanted to do, he knew what the other team wanted to do, and he went out there and executed that. I think that’s one of the main things we took away from him for sure.”
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