INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The word \u201clegacy\u201d hovers over the final hours of Alex Karaban\u2019s playing career at UConn.<\/p>\n
The redshirt senior started his career with back-to-back championship seasons so perfect they still feel \u201clike a dream.\u201d He\u2019ll close it with a chance to win a third NCAA title with Monday\u2019s finale against Michigan,<\/a> an accomplishment not seen in a half-century, since the days of UCLA\u2019s peak domination under John Wooden.<\/p>\n And seemingly just as rare, he\u2019s spent an entire four-year playing career at one school in a time of constant player movement through the transfer portal and players bolting early to chase pro-playing careers, making him practically a unicorn in today\u2019s era.<\/p>\n It all comes down now to how the versatile 23-year-old \u2014 the lead-by-example veteran dubbed the team\u2019s \u201cbabysitter\u201d by coach Dan Hurley \u2014 finishes this tale in Indianapolis.<\/p>\n \u201cYou dream of being on this stage one time, and to be heading into it for a third time, it\u2019s a blessing,\u201d Karaban said Sunday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to come back to win, to win championships, and to leave a legacy that\u2019s unmatched in college basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n Winning plays<\/p>\n Karaban is 18-1 in three NCAA Tournament appearances going back to cutting down the nets in 2023<\/a> and 2024<\/a>, along with last year\u2019s narrow second-round loss to eventual champion Florida amid the crushing pressure of chasing a three-peat. <\/p>\n That puts him in a tie for second on the all-time list of tournament wins as a starter with his coach\u2019s older brother \u2014 former Duke point guard Bobby Hurley \u2014 and trailing only Blue Devils great Christian Laettner (21).<\/p>\n Saturday\u2019s win against Illinois<\/a> in the national semifinal marked his 150th game at UConn, leading all high-major players in games played at one school. <\/p>\n If the Huskies can beat the Wolverines, Karaban would become only the 10th player to win three NCAA titles after playing in the championship game, according to SportRadar. The other nine all played for the Bruins amid their run of seven straight titles from 1967-73.<\/p>\n That makes him the connective tissue from the Huskies\u2019 past two championships to this run to the brink of another, the highlight being a stunning comeback in the Elite Eight from 19 down to beat No. 1 overall tournament seed Duke<\/a>.<\/p>\n Karaban had his fingerprints on that, too. The ball came his way with UConn down to the frantic few moments that could extend its season. <\/p>\n He passed up forcing a shot, instead fed the trailing Braylon Mullins for the last-second 3-pointer that will live on for decades in March Madness lore.<\/p>\n Leading a winner<\/p>\n Karaban \u2014 a midyear enrollee for a 2021-22 redshirt season \u2014 has never posted eye-popping stats; his career averages are 12.4 points and 5.0 rebounds. His value comes in the his shooting range (career 37.5% on 3s) to create floor spacing and a 6-foot-8 frame with versatility to match up with different positions, offering intriguing NBA potential for a level where all those aspects are at a premium.<\/p>\n And oh yes, carrying that championship experience into everything the Huskies do. <\/p>\n Junior Jaylin Stewart has seen it, from the way Karaban is serious about getting enough rest and stretching, or in getting on teammates for walking to practice.<\/p>\n \u201cRun to the huddle, run to the water,\u201d Stewart said, dutifully repeating Karaban\u2019s instructions. \u201cRun everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow junior Jayden Ross has seen it too.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be in practice, maybe he thinks we\u2019re BS\u2019ing a little bit and he gets in our huddle and he\u2019ll let it rip on some guys,\u201d Ross said. \u201cHe does a good job of knowing when it\u2019s time to do that and when it\u2019s time to give guys confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n Michigan coach Dusty May can see that value from afar, too.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at how many he has won and (what) you hear Coach Hurley say about him, those are the type of guys that can bring a group together and they walk the walk, they teach all of your unwritten rules,\u201d May said. \u201cThey share the culture of their experience in UConn basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n Or, there\u2019s the way Hurley put it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like hiring a babysitter for your team,\u201d he said, adding: \u201cI guess now we\u2019re paying him in NIL.\u201d<\/p>\n A long journey reaches the finish line<\/p>\n Karaban doesn\u2019t quibble with Hurley\u2019s description, chuckling that it\u2019s a \u201cfair assessment.\u201d But Karaban is quick to point out that he looks at it as a responsibility in making sure new teammates understand what they\u2019re getting into at UConn in matching their own internal standards, pushed by the hard-charging Hurley<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never considered the portal,\u201d Karaban said. \u201cYou win and start on two national championship teams here freshman and sophomore year, it\u2019s going to be tough going into the office and being like, \u2018Coach I want to leave.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The only cause for pause has been mulling whether to start his NBA chase early.<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, the money\u2019s going to find you no matter what, no matter if you\u2019re playing great, if you are getting better every single year, you\u2019re just naturally going to make more money,\u201d Karaban said. \u201cSo the money should never be an issue. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just moreso finding the right fit, finding the right program, finding the right system to really prosper and get yourself ready for the next level. You\u2019re making great money right now in college. But at the end of the day, everyone\u2019s dream is to play in the NBA and really set yourself for the best success to be in the NBA.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, there\u2019s one more game to play before any of that matters. And Karaban is keenly aware of the historical implications, mentioning legacy roughly five times in his news conference followed by another 10 minutes of media interviews in breakout sessions with reporters Sunday.<\/p>\n Win or lose, it\u2019s a career worth celebrating.<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to see how my college career would play out, not leave any what ifs or question marks if I were to leave,\u201d he said. \u201cI have no regrets with any decision that I\u2019ve made. And I\u2019m glad that it\u2019s worked out the way it\u2019s supposed to work out.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-mens-bracket<\/a> and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIANAPOLIS (AP) \u2014 The word \u201clegacy\u201d hovers over the final hours of Alex Karaban\u2019s playing career at UConn.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700477,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[2377,7,12587,6663,217,325,2340,6133,2342,2329,2495,588,113,17604,17603,14220,55358,354,584,1739,446,231,772,20001,55359,1544,66,3261],"class_list":{"0":"post-700476","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-alex-karaban","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-bobby-hurley","11":"tag-christian-laettner","12":"tag-college-basketball","13":"tag-college-sports","14":"tag-connecticut","15":"tag-connecticut-huskies","16":"tag-connecticut-huskies-mens-basketball","17":"tag-ct-state-wire","18":"tag-dan-hurley","19":"tag-in-state-wire","20":"tag-indiana","21":"tag-jayden-ross","22":"tag-jaylin-stewart","23":"tag-john-wooden","24":"tag-march-madness-ncaa-tournament","25":"tag-mens-college-basketball","26":"tag-mi-state-wire","27":"tag-michigan","28":"tag-nba-basketball","29":"tag-ncaa","30":"tag-ncaa-basketball","31":"tag-ncaa-mens-division-i-basketball-championship","32":"tag-ncaa-mens-bracket","33":"tag-ncaab","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-sports-transactions"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700476","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=700476"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700476\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700477"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}