Alex Karaban has already won two national championships with the University of Connecticut men’s basketball program, but he will try to help the Huskies make it three in a row.
Mark Sears played a huge role in Alabama reaching the NCAA Division I tournament’s semifinals last month before running into Karaban’s Huskies, and now he’ll try to help the Crimson Tide make sure the program’s first Final Four is quickly followed up with a second trip.
Both were among the players who withdrew their names from consideration for this summer’s NBA draft on Wednesday, an offseason boost to their programs as known commodities in an era when rosters are often overhauled via the transfer portal from year to year.
Karaban, a 6-foot-8 third-year sophomore, has started in 77 of his 78 games since joining the Huskies. He averaged 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds last season as UConn went 37-3 and became the first team with consecutive NCAA men’s tourney titles since Florida in 2006-07.
No program has won three in a row since UCLA won seven straight from 1967-73.