Karaban, Ball, Reed all named first team preseason all-Big East as UConn is first with three honorees in 20 years

Alex Karaban was one of three Huskies named to Big East’s preseason first team Tuesday. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

NEW YORK — Twenty years ago when the Big East preseason awards were unveiled, three Villanova Wildcats found themselves on the preseason all-conference first team: Randy Foye, Allan Ray, and Curtis Sumpter. Having three players nominated for that in a league that deep in talent is impressive, so impressive that it hasn’t happened since.

Well, not until Tuesday at least.

When the polls came out in the morning at media day at Madison Square Garden, UConn’s Alex Karaban, Solo Ball, and Tarris Reed, Jr. all saw their names listed amongst the six players, seven if you count the preseason player of the year in St. John’s forward Zuby Ejiofor.

“It’s definitely a big honor for all of us,” Ball said. “It shows how much work we’ve been putting in as a whole.” 

The three Husky stars are expected to lead a deep squad coached by Dan Hurley that has high expectations after falling short of a third straight national title a year ago. It all starts with Karaban, the redshirt senior who is back for one last ride in Storrs this year.

“I didn’t have the year I wanted to and the team didn’t have the year it wanted to,” Karaban said. “I really just want to finish off my four years here, be at one program for my entire career.”

The key for Karaban to live up to the first team hype is to be more consistent on the offensive end. At times last season, he was nonexistent from the perimeter, or even worse, too existent in a negative way. A very consistent and reliable shooter his first two years, he struggled in Big East play to get a good rhythm going and it was a problem. Erase those struggles, and Karaban should certainly have the resume of a first-teamer in the league.

Moving to Ball, the now-junior guard exploded onto the scene in his second year as both a starter and UConn’s leading scorer. He filled the role players like Jordan Hawkins and Cam Spencer portrayed so well, someone who can be relied upon for three points essentially every trip down the floor.

Solo Ball hopes to build off breakout sophomore season, starting with preseason all-Big East nod. (Photo by UConn Men’s Basketball)

“I’m excited to show more facets of my game,” Ball said. “I showed what I can do scoring wise, but I want to be able to expand as a scorer, not just keeping it to threes, and making defensive plays.”

For Ball, his biggest key to make the first team a reality is on the defensive end. Too many times last season, he was a negative on that end of the floor, even with his elite shot-making ability on offense. He could hit five threes, but if he allows five threes, then it doesn’t really mean anything. He looked improved in the exhibition last week against Boston College, diving for loose balls and not making things easy for the Eagles on offense.

Lastly, there's Tarris Reed, Jr. The former Michigan Wolverine was a high impact player for the Huskies last year as the backup center to Samson Johnson, earning the Big East Sixth Man of the Year award. Expectations are high for the big man this season, a season that may be a bit delayed due to a nagging hamstring injury he suffered in practice. Once he’s on the court, he should be a force to be reckoned with.

“I always see him working no matter what, and once he comes back from this hamstring, he’s gonna be stronger than ever,” Ball said of Reed. “I’m super excited for him to come back and for us to be at full strength.”

Of the three nominations, this one feels like the one that may be the biggest stretch. That's not at all saying that Reed isn’t capable of being on this level. I know he is and think he will be, but a lot of this is building off the prediction and expectation that he is going to be one of the best big men in the country. We’ve seen dominant center play at UConn so far this decade, with the likes of Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan leading the charge. Reed is next up in the hierarchy of elite big men under Hurley, and it should be exciting to see how he grows in an expanded role.

In addition to those three players getting acknowledged, Georgia transfer Silas Demary, Jr. was named to the preseason second team and star freshman Braylon Mullins was named as UConn’s third straight preseason freshman of the year, marking all five projected starters taking home October hardware for the Huskies. But does it matter at the end of the day?

Not to Hurley.

“There’s nothing more useless than preseason polls and picks,” he said. “The (20)23 team started unranked in the preseason in what was the start to their dominant run.”

The fourth-ranked Huskies will have one more tuneup before the season starts, when they host Michigan State next Tuesday in an exhibition game at the recently renovated and renamed PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford.