With Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. off to the NBA Draft, UConn’s next title push is starting to look like a backcourt story.
That’s the read from around the college basketball world, too. CBS Sports Insider Jon Rothstein recently pointed to transfer Na’jai Hines as the Huskies’ X-factor, and the Field of 68 has also identified UConn’s guards as the team’s biggest strength.
Rob Dauster went a step further, saying Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins could be the best backcourt in the country. He added that if they reach their ceiling, the Huskies could win a third title in the last five years.
Demary is the veteran piece of that pairing. The rising senior arrived from Georgia and wasted no time becoming a major part of Dan Hurley’s rotation.
He played in all 39 games last season, starting 38, and logged more than 28 minutes per night. He finished with 10.1 points per game and led the Big East with 5.9 assists, earning All-Big East honors in his first season in Storrs.
With Karaban gone, UConn will lean on Demary to help fill the leadership gap.
Mullins brings the star power. The McDonald’s All-American just wrapped up his freshman year and averaged 12.0 points in 33 games while shooting 33.5 percent from three and 89 percent at the foul line.
He’s widely viewed as a lottery-level prospect for the 2027 NBA Draft, and his role is set to grow even more with Solo Ball out for the season after wrist surgery. Mullins also already has one of the biggest shots in UConn history on his résumé, burying the three-pointer that knocked off Duke in the Elite 8 and sent the Huskies to the Final Four.
UConn is also making noise on the recruiting trail. The Huskies made the first cut for five-star wing Demarcus Henry, who is ranked by the 247Sports composite as the No. 1 wing and No. 5 overall player in the Class of 2027.
Henry revealed the eight schools still alive in his recruitment on The Henry Legacy podcast, which aired Monday night. UConn is still in the mix along with Arkansas, BYU, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina and Ohio State.
Henry is the son of former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, who died in 2009.
In Other News...
UConn Football Is Entering A New Era With Plenty Unanswered
UConn football has already started laying the groundwork for 2026, and the calendar gives the next chapter a clear starting point. The Huskies will open the season Sept. 5 against Lafayette at Pratt & Whitney Stadium in East Hartford, a first-time meeting that adds a little curiosity to the early part of the schedule and gives fans an immediate look at how the program is taking shape.
The bigger question around Storrs is what the roster and staff support structure will look like once the new season arrives. UConn is looking for strength and conditioning interns and student equipment managers for 2026, a reminder that building a football program is about more than the depth chart and the scoreboard, especially when a new era is beginning and so many pieces still need to fall into place. [Read more 🡒]