UConn enters the 2026-27 season with the kind of roster that keeps the program firmly in the national picture, even without another championship to add to Dan Hurley’s résumé. The Huskies still profile as a top-15 caliber team, but the path there comes with a few real questions.
The biggest one starts in the backcourt, where UConn will have to move on without Solo Ball. He opened each of the last two seasons in the starting lineup and averaged 12.8 points per game while shooting 39% from the field last year, but he has already been ruled out for 2026-27 while recovering from a wrist injury that had been bothering him for months.
That absence puts even more pressure on the pieces around him to carry the load. Silas Demary Jr. is back as the starting point guard, and sophomore guard Braylon Mullins is already being talked about as a national breakout candidate.
UConn also brought in Wofford transfer Nils Machowski, who put up 17.2 points per game and earned All-SoCon honors after shooting 38% from 3-point range on 7.4 attempts per game. He should have a real role in the guard rotation as the Huskies try to replace Ball’s scoring by committee.
There’s just as much intrigue up front, where UConn is trying to rebuild around a pair of sophomore transfers. Nikolas Khamenia arrives after a freshman season at Duke in which he averaged 5.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 20 minutes per game.
A former five-star prospect, he’s looking for a bigger opportunity now. Najai Hines comes over after reclassifying to join Seton Hall last season, where he averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds and blocked more than two shots a game as a freshman, giving UConn an interior defender with real breakout potential.
That frontcourt could wind up being one of the best in the country if both players hit. If they don’t, the ceiling changes quickly.
The final piece is the freshman class, which gives Hurley another chance to find immediate help from newcomers. Big man Egor Amosov is in line to compete for minutes inside, while guards Colben Landrew and Junior County arrive as top-40 prospects who have already shown up on some early NBA Draft boards. With Ball sidelined, both guards could be asked to matter right away in the backcourt mix.
UConn may be young, but the talent level is obvious. That’s why the Huskies still look positioned to chase Big East relevance and national contention again.
In Other News...
Arizona Begins Sorting Out A New-Look Team With Pressure Still There
Tuesdays exhibition slate brings a familiar one for UConn fans, with Syracuse back on the schedule at Mohegan Sun Arena as both programs use the preseason to sort out rotations and roles. It also fits into a broader night of tuneups around the country, with Arizona starting its exhibition schedule against San Francisco and other programs getting their first real look at new combinations before the games count.
For UConn, these early games are less about the final score than about learning what this team looks like when the pace picks up and the pressure starts to matter. Syracuse is in a similar spot after a coaching change, and the renewed rivalry adds a little extra edge to what should be a useful measuring-stick night for both sides. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Gets Its First Real Test With A Very Different Roster
The first real look at UConns reshaped roster comes Friday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, where the Huskies will meet Syracuse in an exhibition that should say plenty about where Dan Hurleys team stands entering the season. It will air on NBC Sports Boston, and it also marks Hurleys first game against Syracuse since 2018, back when the Orange were still under Jim Boeheim and before Gerry McNamara took over the program.
UConn will have to navigate the opener without Braylon Mullins, who is out with an undisclosed injury, so the spotlight shifts to Silas Demary Jr. and a batch of newcomers who are set to make their debuts. For a roster built with transfers and freshmen as much as returning pieces, this is less about polishing the final details than getting an early read on how quickly the new faces can fit into Hurleys system. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Finally Gets First Clues On Two Big Roster Questions
The preseason opener against Syracuse at Mohegan Sun Arena arrives with a couple of the biggest early clues UConn has gotten about its new-look roster. The Huskies are still sorting out how the frontcourt will hold up after losing Tarris Reed Jr. and Eric Reibe, and transfer Na'jai Hines is expected to be a major piece in that effort. At the same time, sophomore Braylon Mullins is one of the players the staff is counting on to take a step forward as the rotation starts to come into focus.
There is still some uncertainty on the perimeter, though, and it has become a real issue for UConns depth chart. Guard Solo Ball is likely out for the season after wrist surgery, which leaves the Huskies with another backcourt question even as they begin to get answers elsewhere. The opener will not settle everything, but it should at least show how much of this teams identity can already be traced to Hines inside and Mullins on the rise. [Read more 🡒]