UConn royalty became a King on Tuesday night.
Huskies’ captain Alex Karaban was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the 29th overall pick in the NBA Draft.
The two-time national champion was off the board just three picks after teammate Tarris Reed Jr. went to the San Antonio Spurs. He is the program’s 26th first round pick (all since 1990) and 54th player drafted. The selection makes seven first round picks under coach Dan Hurley, who’s seen 11 of his UConn players drafted over eight seasons at the helm.
UConn is one of three programs (Baylor, Duke) in the nation with a selection in each of the last six NBA Drafts.
Karaban, a four-year starter, was the first active player inducted into the Huskies of Honor, and the Senior Day game that followed proved why.
In the biggest moments, the program’s all-time winningest player came through. On that Saturday afternoon in Storrs, the Huskies were in another fight with Seton Hall. Karaban made a pair of 3-pointers to key UConn’s second half comeback and finished the game with five on his way to 23 points, three rebounds, two assists and two blocks in his final game at Gampel Pavilion.
Tarris Reed Jr. selected No. 26 overall in NBA Draft, headed to San Antonio Spurs
The 6-foot-8 sharpshooting forward from Southborough, Mass. secured his third trip to the Final Four in four years with his basketball IQ on display when he pitched the ball back to Braylon Mullins to complete a 19-point comeback against Duke.
“NBA teams will eye Alex Karaban for the same role he played during Connecticut’s three Final Four runs,” Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman wrote. “He has some fans for his ability to make spot-up and movement threes, cut through defenses and play mistake-free ball.”
In addition to national championships as a freshman and sophomore, Karaban finished his career with 126 wins and 292 made 3-pointers – both more than any UConn player ever. He scored 1,880 points (No. 6 all-time), grabbed 758 rebounds and had an 18-2 record across four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Karaban is one of three players in NCAA DI history with career totals of at least: 1,850 points, 750 rebounds, 300 assists, 250 made 3-pointers, 100 blocks and 100 steals.
In his final year with the Huskies, after turning down two opportunities to go pro, Karaban averaged 13.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 34.3 minutes per game while shooting 46.4% from the field, 37.4% from beyond the arc and 85.1% from the free throw line.
Karaban was the best shooter at the NBA Draft Combine, making 74.8% of his shots across all shooting drills.
He should have an opportunity to compete for a rotation opportunity with the Kings, who are coming off a 22-60 finish last season. They also drafted Arkansas point guard Darius Acuff Jr. on Tuesday night with the seventh overall pick.
