UConn’s preseason hardware keeps piling up, and now two more Huskies are in the mix for national recognition.
Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins were both included on the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ preseason watch list for national player of the year. The award will be decided by a nationwide vote of Division I head coaches after the regular season and announced the week of the 2027 Final Four.
Only 20 players earned spots on the list, and UConn is one of just three programs - along with Duke and Florida - to place multiple players on it.
Demary Jr., the Big East Preseason Player of the Year, already has a crowded preseason trophy case. He’s also drawn Preseason All-America recognition from CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, The Athletic and Field of 68 as he heads into his second season in Storrs. Last year, the 6-foot-4 point guard averaged 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and a Big East-best 5.9 assists per game.
Mullins is arriving with plenty of buzz of his own. He was picked to the Preseason First Team All-Big East and landed a First Team All-American nod from Blue Ribbon Report.
After earning unanimous All-Freshman honors in the Big East last season, the 6-foot-6 Indiana native started 29 games and posted 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He also knocked down 72 threes, the second-most by a UConn freshman in a season, and hit the buzzer beater to send Due home in the Elite Eight.
The NABC Division I Player of the Year award has been handed out every season since 1974-75, and it remains the only national player of the year honor chosen by the sport’s head coaches.
UConn picked up another preseason distinction on Thursday when sophomore Na’jai Hines was named to the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year preseason watch list by the Naismith Hall of Fame. Hines is one of 20 players on that list.
In his freshman season at Seton Hall, Hines averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds while leading the Big East with 2.2 blocks per game. He’s now set for his first season in Storrs.
Hines joins a growing list of Huskies earning positional preseason recognition from the Hall of Fame: Demary Jr. is on the Cousy Award preseason list, Mullins is on the West Award list and Colben Landrew is on The Erving Award list.
In Other News...
UConn Just Got Exposed In One Area Before A Huge Home Test
UConns trip to Colorado Springs offered a clear reminder of how quickly a game can get away from a team when the opponent controls the ground game and the clock. The Huskies fell 35-26 to Air Force, with the Falcons leaning on a relentless rushing attack and keeping possession for more than 41 minutes, a formula that left UConn chasing the game for much of the afternoon.
Kalieb Osborne did his part through the air, throwing for 263 yards and two touchdowns, and UConn avoided turnovers, but that was not enough to offset the long stretches Air Force spent dictating the pace. With a huge home test coming next, the loss leaves the Huskies with a familiar issue to sort through: how to handle an opponent that can shorten the game and keep their offense on the sideline. [Read more 🡒]
UConns Biggest Problem In This Road Loss Was Hard To Ignore
UConns trip to Falcon Stadium turned into a familiar kind of frustration in a 35-26 loss to Air Force, with the Huskies unable to slow down the Falcons long enough to make their own offense matter. Kalieb Osborne did his part through the air, throwing for 263 yards and two touchdowns, but the game kept tilting toward Air Force as UConn spent too much of the afternoon chasing the pace and the scoreboard.
The bigger issue was impossible to miss: Air Force kept finding room on the ground and controlling the terms of the game. UConn had chances to hang around into the closing stretch, but the finish came down to one last two-point try after Osborne was sacked, leaving the Huskies with another road loss and a reminder of how quickly a game can slip away when the defense cannot get the stops it needs. [Read more 🡒]
UConn Opens With Immediate Pressure To Back Up Its Top 5 Hype
The No. 4 ranking and the preseason buzz bring an immediate standard with them when UConn opens its 2026-27 regular season at home against Gardner-Webb at PeoplesBank Arena. This is the kind of start that comes with little room for easing in, especially for a program that has spent the offseason under a bright spotlight and will be expected to look the part from the opening tip.
Dan Hurley is heading into his ninth season with the Huskies, and the continuity in the program has only sharpened the pressure to keep delivering at an elite level. UConn also picked up a wave of preseason recognition, with Silas Demary Jr. earning BIG EAST preseason player of the year honors, a reminder that the roster is loaded enough to justify the hype. The only question now is how quickly all of that translates once the games count. [Read more 🡒]