Florida added a major piece to its 2027 class on Wednesday, landing four-star center Kamsi Awaka over a crowded group of high-profile programs.
Todd Golden’s staff beat out Michigan, UConn, Arizona and Michigan State for the Blairstown, New Jersey product, who is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 5 center in the class. The win carries extra weight because Arizona had a clear family connection in the race: Awaka’s older brother, Tobe Awaka, spent two strong seasons with the Wildcats before moving on to the NBA as an undrafted prospect. Tobe Awaka was the 2025-26 Big 12 Sixth Man of the Year.
Still, Florida made itself impossible to ignore. Awaka said the Gators made him feel like a centerpiece of their plans.
“I decided to commit to Florida because I was their top priority," he told Rivals. "My relationship is great with them and they believe I can develop to reach my full potential.”
Awaka’s summer production backed up the buzz. On the adidas 3SSB circuit, he put up 13.8 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per game.
Rivals recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw sees a player built for what college basketball is becoming.
“Kamsi Awaka is trending in the exact direction that college basketball is heading," wrote Rivals recruiting analyst Jamie Shaw. "A big and physical post presence who patrols the paint, cleans the boards, and finishes at the front of the rim. Awaka does all of these things, and he does them at an efficient and high level.”
In Other News...
Jim Calhoun Just Sparked A UConn All-Time Lineup Debate
Jim Calhoun spent part of a recent appearance on the Just In Time podcast doing what UConn fans never get tired of doing: sorting through the programs greatest names and trying to fit them into one impossible lineup. The former Huskies coach laid out a hypothetical starting five from his tenure, leaning on players who combined college stardom with long NBA rsums, and he framed the exercise around the kind of versatility that made his teams so hard to matchup with.
The debate starts almost immediately once the names come off the board, because the choices naturally leave out some familiar favorites from those Final Four and championship-era rosters. Calhouns view of the middle of the floor, in particular, says plenty about how he weighed skill and fit, and it gives UConn fans plenty to argue about while wondering where the biggest snubs belong in an all-time Huskies conversation. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Fans Can See The Progress Even If The Frustration Lingers
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Kalieb Osborne has been one of the clearer signs that this can still turn into something. The quarterback is showing real progress, and the passing game has started to look more functional as the losses pile up around it. It is the same kind of patience UConn needed in Moras early years, when the program had to absorb some frustration before it could start cashing in on the groundwork. [Read more 🡒]
UConn's Early Progress Comes With One Alarming Problem
Through five weeks, UConn has looked like a program making real progress under Jason Candle, even if the record has not fully caught up yet. The Huskies are 2-3, but the offense has shown more life, with Kalieb Osborne giving them production both through the air and on the ground and Cyncir Bowers adding steady work in the run game.
The problem is that the defense has not matched the same upward curve, and the pass coverage issues have been hard to ignore. UConn is scoring enough to stay in games more often than not, but unless the secondary tightens up soon, the Huskies could keep finding themselves in shootouts where the early signs of progress are not enough to cover for what is happening on the other side of the ball. [Read more 🡒]