Alex Karaban’s first day with the Sacramento Kings came with the kind of reception that makes a rookie remember the moment. The former UConn captain arrived in California’s capital city on Sunday, and Kings fans were already waiting to make him feel at home.
Karaban, the No. 29 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, was greeted at Sacramento International Airport by team personnel. He wore a black sweatshirt with “Kings” stitched at the neck in white, but his backpack still carried a UConn logo - a small reminder of where he just came from.
As he and Kings staff moved down the escalator toward baggage claim, fans chanted “SAC-RA-MEN-TO,” while others shook cowbells, the longtime arena staple tied to Phil Jackson’s old “cow town” line from 2002. Karaban signed autographs, posed for photos and spent time shaking hands and trading high fives.
The 23-year-old told KCRA he was eager to get going.
"It's awesome. Super welcoming," he told the TV station.
"It's really like my first time in Sacramento, too, so I'm super excited to be here. Meet all the fans.
Get the full experience. Extremely warm welcome, so I'm happy to be here.
That welcome comes with a clear assignment. Sacramento is trying to climb out of a brutal 22-60 season, one that was hammered by injuries to key players.
All-Star center Domantas Sabonis played only 19 games before a knee injury ended his year. Zach LaVine, another two-time All-Star, was shut down after 39 games because of a hand injury.
Keegan Murray averaged 14.0 points per game but appeared in just 23 games before an ankle injury ended his season.
The Kings are also sorting through what comes next with their veteran core. DeMar DeRozan, who will turn 37 before the 2026-27 season begins, averaged 18.4 points across 77 games last season, but he is expected to be traded or released before the season starts as Sacramento rebuilds. Other veterans could be on the move as well.
For Karaban, that means joining a franchise that is asking its young players to help reset the tone. UConn coach Dan Hurley spent the pre-draft process praising Karaban as the ultimate winner, and Sacramento clearly valued that trait enough to move up five spots to get him. Karaban comes from a program built on deep tournament runs, while the Kings have made only one playoff appearance since 2005, a first-round loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2023.
Sacramento’s history has mostly been a long climb, not a steady rise. The franchise has one NBA championship, won in 1951 when the team was still the Rochester Royals.
Karaban, meanwhile, arrives with a résumé shaped by winning at the highest level in college. Hurley called him the engine behind a UConn program that won back-to-back national titles in Karaban’s sophomore and junior seasons.
"This guy changed my life, the staff's lives, the joy he's brought to the university, the fan base," Hurley said after UConn dropped the national championship game to Michigan in April.
"His decision to come to UConn has made us ... we're probably the premier program in college basketball right now, having been to three out of four national championship games, having won two of them. He's put UConn in that rarefied place in college basketball."
Karaban now becomes part of a Kings draft class that also includes guard Darius Acuff Jr. at No. 7 and Houston guard Emanuel Sharp at No. 45.
Acuff played one season at Arkansas and was the Southeastern Conference player of the year and rookie of the year after averaging 23.5 points, 6.4 assists and 3.1 rebounds. Sharp averaged 15.5 points, 1.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds for Houston.
The roster picture still has room to shift before the season begins, especially with DeRozan and other veterans in flux. If Sacramento chooses to lean fully into youth, it already has another promising piece in center Maxime Raynaud, who averaged 12.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. For now, though, Karaban’s arrival marks the start of a new chapter for a player who made his name winning at UConn and is now expected to bring that same edge to Sacramento.
In Other News...
UConn Just Hit A Program-Wide Mark Husky Fans Will Love
The basketball buzz was real enough with two UConn players hearing their names in the 2026 NBA Draft, but the bigger picture around the athletic department was just as encouraging. UConn finished 56th in the Learfield Directors Cup for the 2025-26 academic year, its best showing since 2010-11, a sign that the Huskies were piling up meaningful results well beyond the hardwood.
Across the Big East, five players were drafted, with UConn accounting for Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban and St. Johns also sending a strong group to the next level. For UConn fans, the draft night success and the departments rise in the national all-sports standings point in the same direction: a program-wide stretch of momentum that has been built across multiple sports, even if the full impact is still unfolding. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Fans Finally Get Their First Karaban And Reed Summer League Check-In
UConn fans finally get a summertime look at Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr., as both former Huskies are set for NBA Summer League action after their college careers in Storrs. It is the first chance for supporters to see each player in an NBA setting, and there will be a little extra interest attached to every possession as the next phase of their careers gets underway.
Karaban will be with the Sacramento Kings, while Reed is headed to the San Antonio Spurs, and both teams are slated to play in the California Classic before shifting to Las Vegas. The schedules are already set, so the only thing left is the on-court debut itself, which gives UConn backers an early summer checkpoint on two players they know well. [Read more 🡒]