"This is Alex Karaban's legacy": Analyst hails UConn star's achievements in "modern world of college basketball"

UConn Huskies forward Alex Karaban is currently undecided on the future of his basketball career. There have been several rumblings of Karaban playing out his senior year of college hoops in the 2025-2026 season, while others have suggested that he will declare for this year's NBA draft on June 25.

Karaban has made a great impact on both his team and in the college basketball world. He was a part of the Huskies' last national championship repeat in 2023 and in 2024, through which, under the tutelage of coach Dan Hurley, Karaban shined in a sharpshooting role for the championship team.

During an episode of the 'Big East Energy' podcast on YouTube on Monday, college basketball analyst Mark Zanetto then hailed the incoming fourth-year star's achievements as one of the best in the modern collegiate hoops spectrum.

"He's already accomplished so much more than really anybody has in the modern world of college basketball. He's not as accomplished as the Christian Laettners or the Bobby Hurleys, even if you go way back to the Lew Alcindor days...And really that Corey Brewer, that entire kind of Flordia roster was a behemoth. They won back-to-back titles."

Zanetto then expounded on his claims by lauding Karaban's loyalty to the Huskies despite the rising trends in college basketball.

"What Alex has done is akin to those guys but, in an era where everybody leaves, everybody leaves constantly. So, there's not a lot of turnover. In those days, you kind of stuck around. Even guys who went to draft, they went early. There wasn't a transfer portal. NIL wasn't a thing.

"So, this is Alex Karaban's, you know, legacy, is that he was successful in this era where people say you can't be successful,"

The 22-year-old standout opted to return to the Huskies on May 30 and officially withdrew from the 2024 NBA draft. Ultimately, he uncorked a stellar 2024-2025 campaign where he averaged 14.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 steals per contest.

Alex Karaban and UConn missed out on third straight national championship

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In the 2024-2025 season, Alex Karaban and the UConn Huskies were not able to give their program their first-ever national championship three-peat. On March 23, they were defeated by the eventual champions in the Florida Gators, in the second round of this year's national tournament through a tight two-point defeat, 77-75.

The Huskies eventually finished the campaign with an overall record of 24-11, 14-6 during Big East conference play earlier in the year. If Alex Karaban decides to come back to UConn, he will have the opportunity to vie for his third national title, adding on to his extensive list of accomplishments in his collegiate hoops tenure.

About the author

Koby del Rosario is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda who took up BS in Advertising Management at De La Salle University, one of the big "four" universities in the Philippines. Koby has over four years of experience with Complex PH, M2.0 Communications, The LaSallian, Daily Tribune, and Time Attack Manila.

Koby's favorite college team would have to be the North Carolina Tar Heels. Apart from being MJ's alma mater, Koby has always been fond of the Jordan silhouettes that release in the school's colors (being a sneakerhead himself).

His past favorite college players would have to be Russell Westbrook (UCLA) and Markelle Fultz (Washington). With Russ, his 1-2 punch with Kevin Love during their UCLA days was something Koby marveled at as Russ became his favorite player to watch post-Kobe.

Besides playing basketball, Koby enjoys nightlife, collecting sneakers, and playing video games. Apart from hosting parties and taking pictures for parties/bars/clubs, Koby is learning to DJ as a hobby with all sorts of house and hip-hop as the main genres.

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Edited by Dipayan Moitra