Despite Loss, Alex Karaban Ends UConn Career As An All-Time Great
· Yahoo Sports
UConn head coach Dan Hurley pauses for the national anthem with Alex Karaban (11) and Solo Ball (1) before the start of the NCAA college basketball tournament national championship game against Michigan at the Final Four, Monday, April 6, 2026, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.When Alex Karaban caught the ball beyond the 3-point line near the top of the key with UConn trailing by four points Monday night, the senior forward didn’t hesitate. So many times the past few seasons, Karaban had a similar move, running around to get open and making the shot. But this time with 17 seconds remaining in the national title game, Karaban’s attempt grazed the front of the rim and fell short.
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Instead of cutting UConn’s deficit to one, the miss all but assured the fairy tale ending to its season wasn’t meant to be. And when Michigan freshman guard Trey McKenney made two free throws on the other end to clinch a 69-63 victory to win the school’s second NCAA championship, Karaban’s career was officially over.
Despite the loss, just the second for Karaban in 20 NCAA tournament games, he leaves as among the best players in program history. He ranks first in UConn history in games played (151) and won (126) as well as 3-pointers made (292) and true shooting percentage (59.8%). He is also second in win shares (21.4) behind former All-American Emeka Okafor and sixth in points (1,880).
“This guy changed my life, the staff’s lives, the joy he’s brought to the University, the fan base,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “We're probably the premier program in college basketball right now…He's put UConn in that rarefied place in college basketball. Everyone owes everything to that guy.”
Indeed, before Karaban played his first game in 2022, UConn had not won a game in the NCAA tournament since Hurley took over in 2018. Karaban arrived that January, but he redshirted due to a wrist injury he sustained weeks earlier while playing at IMG Academy. Karaban spent time rehabbing his injury, attending practices and becoming accustomed to what Hurley expected.
After coming off the bench in the 2022 season opener, Karaban started the next 150 games of his career. He was an integral part of UConn’s national title teams in 2023 and 2024 when the Huskies became the first men’s program since Florida in 2006 and 2007 to win consecutive championships. Although Karaban was never an All-American or the team’s leading scorer, he was consistent as a player and teammate. In each of the past three seasons, Karaban averaged between 13.2 and 14.3 points and between 5.1 and 5.3 rebounds per game.
During a press conference at the East Regional in Washington, D.C., late last month, Hurley noted that Karaban was “pretty introverted” off the court but said “he becomes an extrovert” on the court. He also referred to Karaban as similar to an associate head coach who is around the players all the time. Like Hurley, Karaban is all in on his sport.
“When we’re driving our car, we’re thinking about basketball,” Hurley said. “When we’re in the shower, we’re thinking about basketball. When we’re sleeping and we wake up, we’re thinking about basketball.”
He added: “We just obsess over the game. We obsess over our love of the game, of the team. We just obsess, and we share that obsession.”
In his final NCAA tournament, Karaban gave it all he had. During the first two rounds in Philadelphia, he had 22 points in the victory over Furman and a career-high 27 against UCLA. In the Sweet 16, he had 17 points in a 67-63 win over Michigan State, including a 3-pointer that put UConn ahead 61-57 with 1:39 remaining and two free throws to give the Huskies a 65-62 lead with 22.5 seconds left. On the other end, UConn center Tarris Reed Jr, fouled Michigan State’s Carson Cooper, who made the first free throw but missed the second. Reed then secured the rebound and made two free throws, clinching the victory.
In the Elite Eight, Karaban scored just five points on 2-of-10 shooting, but he played a pivotal role down the stretch in UConn overcoming a 19-point deficit and pulling off a stunning 73-72 victory over Duke. He made his first 3-pointer of the night with 50 seconds left, cutting Duke’s lead to 70-69 and then smartly passed the ball to freshman Braylon Mullins, who made the winning 35-footer with less than a second remaining.
In the Final Four Saturday night, Karaban again struggled shooting, making 1 of 8 shots, including 1 of 7 on 3’s. Still, before the championship game Monday, Hurley decided he would play Karaban all 40 minutes and rely on a player that’s meant so much.
Karaban responded by finishing with a team-high 17 points and game-high 11 rebounds. He kept UConn within striking distance of a Michigan team that had defeated its first five NCAA tournament opponents by more than 21 points per game. Still, it wasn’t enough against the nation’s best defense. Michigan held UConn to 30.9% from the field, the fourth consecutive game the Wolverines limited its opponent to a season-low in shooting.
“I have done everything in my power to help this program win,” Karaban said. “I want to do everything every time I step out at night and give it my all. For coach to play me 40 minutes, I can’t thank him enough. That's all I wanted.”
Michigan won its second national title and first since 1989 and became the first Big Ten Conference NCAA champion since Michigan State in 2000. UConn, meanwhile, was the first team since Kentucky from 1996 to 1998 to make three national title games in four seasons.
Karaban failed in his pursuit to be the only non-UCLA player with three national titles. Still, the only players with more NCAA tournament victories than Karaban are former Duke stars Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley. For decades to come, Karaban is sure to be remembered fondly among UConn fans as the rare four-year starter who helped the Huskies continue to thrive and emerge as the sport’s best program.
“It hurts a lot right now,” Karaban said. “I’m just reminding myself right now that when I came into UConn how much I've grown, and I'm ultimately leaving UConn in a better place right now from where I started.”
He added: “I gave it everything I got. I gave it my heart. I gave everything. All I thought about was UConn basketball every single day.”
This article was originally published on Forbes.com