Blue-collar man turned headliner: Alex Karaban’s journey from redshirt to recognition

Alex Karaban has overshot expectations through first two seasons at UConn, and looks to do similar entering a junior season where Huskies chase third straight national championship. (Photo by UConn Athletics)

Alex Karaban has blended so seamlessly into the fabric of UConn basketball for the past three years to where it may be easy to discount his star power as he enters his redshirt junior season.

In fact, when you listen to the forward recount his initial experiences in Storrs, you may wonder how he even arrived at such an historic precipice in such a short period of time.

But that speaks to the essence of Karaban and his unassuming work ethic, one that is now brought to the forefront as the Huskies’ leader as his four fellow starters from last year’s national championship lineup have all moved on to the NBA. And while the highest level is a firm objective for him now, there was a point where even he had no idea what the future would hold.

“I had no beard, I didn’t know what to expect,” Karaban recounted as he traced his journey from recruit to role player to face of the program. “I’ve grown a lot mentally, physically, emotionally, everything. Being in this program has changed me. I feel like a new person right now ever since I stepped on campus. Shoot, I don’t even know how to think about it. I think my confidence is through the roof right now, just providing more offensively every year and being able to step up to the task. I’ve provided such a great role for the last two years and I have a new role this year, just being able to live up to those expectations and really being the guy for the team this year.”

Never one to sugarcoat experiences over his tenure in the Nutmeg State, Karaban—a preseason first team all-Big East selection who could potentially flirt with All-American honors by the time the dust settles on his junior campaign—has already singled out areas where he feels he needs to improve, even as those close to him can see a transformation in his game.

“I think the shooting can always improve,” he conceded. “I’m trying to be a more efficient shooter. I felt like during March Madness last year, I didn’t shoot the ball well at all, and during segments of the game too, I was really up and down with my shooting. I’m just trying to be more consistent with it, and defensively, just continuing to improve. I feel like I made a big jump freshman to sophomore year, and I’m trying to make an even bigger jump defensively sophomore to junior year.”

Karaban’s head coach, who compared his innate and almost obsessive drive to better himself to that of his former teammate, Tristen Newton, when he bashed the oversight of his forward for lack of preseason recognition, did praise the intangibles that have yielded the player UConn hopes will lead the way to a third consecutive national championship and the first true dynasty in college basketball in over a half-century.

“His ability to pick up concepts and process the game, how simple he kept his life…it’s his education, it’s his family and it’s basketball,” Dan Hurley reflected as he cited what impresses him most about Karaban. “He’s not caught up in NIL and agents and getting more followers, or posting videos. The guy just wants to win, he wants to get better, he wants to be a great basketball player, he wants to win championships, he wants to do his best. I guess it’s boring for people.”

While some may be turned off by the apparent muted personality, Samson Johnson sees the chance to share a court with Karaban as an opportunity to further his basketball education, if you will.

“Playing against Alex, you realize a lot of things about yourself,” Johnson began. “He might not be as fast as some of the other wings, but he plays with so much intelligence. He’s so smart, he cuts very well, obviously he’s the best shooter in the country, in my opinion. Going against him every single day, you only get better.”

Karaban was initially rumored early in the offseason to be joining Stephon Castle, Donovan Clingan, Newton and Cam Spencer in the professional ranks, but after an eventful summer in which he tested the NBA Draft waters and went through the combine process, came to the realization that his work was far from finished.

“It was definitely stressful,” he said of the draft process and summer workouts. “It was a huge learning opportunity for me. I learned a lot about myself, my game, and who I am as a person through those moments. I wouldn’t trade it for the world and I have no regrets making this decision. I’ve always had a gut feeling that I needed another year, and I’m glad that I followed through with that.”

“For myself, (Hassan Diarra) and Samson, we have the chance to three-peat and that’s something that’s unheard of in college basketball now. To be able to add myself to one of the winningest players in college history, that’s something that’s motivated me every single day. Just to have that chance at it is something that makes me want to get better, makes my teammates want to get better every day.”

As Karaban and his teammates continue to improve in their own way, there still remains a desire from one person in particular for his de facto franchise player to ramp up the intensity. Unsurprisingly, it comes from the person known for his aggressiveness and toughness, one who admits he would be much more vocal if thrust into a similar position.

“If I was him, I’d be running around screaming at people,” a candid Hurley calmly intoned. “If I had on the line what he has on the line this year in terms of standing in sport, claim to career, the things he’s trying to do from a draft standpoint, I would get more lockstep in terms of it becoming more of an Alex-led team. Alex is incredible, leads by example, work ethic, just knowing where to be. He’s on point in every way, but I think that if I had on the line what he does right now, I would be just breathing fire on a daily basis.”

Perhaps the fire will be lit from within over the course of the season. Karaban admitted at last week’s Big East media day that he had become so accustomed to being overlooked that the all-conference distinction he did receive meant very little, if at all. But as he downplays his impact to a program chasing history, it appears far greater to the man who signed him to deliver what has now become a norm in the self-proclaimed basketball capital of the world.

“I’d say Alex returning just put us in a position where we realistically could go into the season saying we have a chance to have the same goals, which is to win the national championship and win the Big East,” Hurley declared. “If he doesn’t return and we’ve gotta go into the portal and get kind of an Alex Karaban type of player, it more than likely would have been just too much to overcome for us losing five starters to the NBA. I guess maybe with just losing four starters to the NBA, we still believe—based on everything we lost the year before, losing three with two key bench pieces—that we’re not in uncharted territory. We’re very comfortable having lost a lot, because we just lost a lot and we’re even better.”