This Year’s Lineup

[Scottobot]

I think Karaban, Ball, Mullins, and Demary are going to play the most with 25+ minutes each. Reed will get a lot of minutes too, but foul trouble will keep him below those four guys.

Any time Demary is out I expect Smith will be in running point.

Stewart is going to have to make a big leap to get more than 10 to 15 minutes. Last year he was able to keep his roll because every other option struggled. He was great at times, but also struggled at time. Next year there will be more competition and that won’t cut it.

Ross will get a chance to have a roll because he is a good guy, Hurley likes him and he works hard. However he will have to play well to keep it. He will need to make big improvements over last year or he will lose his spot in the rotation.

After watching Furphy in Fiba cup, he is absolutely going to carve out atleast a 10 minute+ role which I think will come at expense of Ross and Stewart PT (unless they improve. they will have first crack)

Finally given the way Big East goes, Reed will definitely have his share of foul trouble which will leave plenty of room for Reibe minutes.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Regardless of who starts, if Stewart and Ross don’t take a leap this year it will be tremendously disappointing and really limit our ceiling. We cannot have the same version of them show up next year if we have championship aspirations.

Ross is likely on the outside looking in for real minutes with a very deep roster at his position. Him not taking a leap this year would not “really limit our ceiling”. If he can turn into a reliable 3-and-D wing, that would certainly be a nice piece for the bench though.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think Karaban, Ball, Mullins, and Demary are going to play the most with 25+ minutes each. Reed will get a lot of minutes too, but foul trouble will keep him below those four guys.

Any time Demary is out I expect Smith will be in running point.

Stewart is going to have to make a big leap to get more than 10 to 15 minutes. Last year he was able to keep his roll because every other option struggled. He was great at times, but also struggled at time. Next year there will be more competition and that won’t cut it.

Ross will get a chance to have a roll because he is a good guy, Hurley likes him and he works hard. However he will have to play well to keep it. He will need to make big improvements over last year or he will lose his spot in the rotation.

After watching Furphy in Fiba cup, he is absolutely going to carve out atleast a 10 minute+ role which I think will come at expense of Ross and Stewart PT (unless they improve. they will have first crack)

Finally given the way Big East goes, Reed will definitely have his share of foul trouble which will leave plenty of room for Reibe minutes.

I can’t see how AK isn’t getting 30+ minutes coming off a season he played 36/game. Stew was at 18/game last year and unlikely he came back to get less minutes. Solo is gonna get his 30.

My sense with Stew is he will be primed to assume the starting 4 his senior year. This year, he’ll get 20 between the 3/4, backing up AK and mainly playing the 3 when Solo is off the floor and we roll out a Demary/Smith back court for stretches.

I tend to think the biggest head to head competition for minutes in camp will be Ross and Furphy. May the best man win.

2026 will be where Ross and Stew’s investment in the program pays off. Both seem to have upside, but later bloomers. Maybe they blow it out this year, but I have to see it to believe it.

Assuming Mullins is OAD, with Solo and Demary also potentially moving on if they blow up this year, 2026 is why Stew/Ross are sticking around. That years roster likely starts with Reibe, Stew, Furphy/Ross.

 

[EricLA]

I think your signature needs a bump: Women have 12, Men have 6.

Otherwise I agree completely with your post. Let's see how it happens - will be out in August on vaca for a few weeks.

You are 100% right on my signature, but the mods changed the amount of band width signatures can use, and i can't make any changes to mine, even making the fonts smaller, etc...

 

[Son of Robert]

I think Dwayne Karoma will be in the rotation this year. Tom Moore while scouting/recruiting to fill out this year's roster stated that some of the players they were looking at were rising players at lesser D1 schools that the UConn staff thought could impact this year's team. Karoma who is an athletic and skilled 6'8 last year averaged 11.5pts, 7.2 rebs, and 2 assists. He was 2nd in the nation in effective FG% at 71.8% mostly for his work in the paint, but he can shoot the 3. He is a 4 year veteran of D1 college ball and has gotten better each year. At 17 he was playing in the Munich German League, and now Karoma is a veteran player who is 24 years old. He very well may be our 2nd best player scoring in the paint as well as rebounding. I see him as a backup for Karaban, playing a small double big with Reibe on the floor, and just a very effective frontcourt player and defender that Hurley can have in the mix with any number of players. He will undoubtably be used when there is foul trouble with Reed and Reibe, unless staff picks up another player at the 5.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

I think Dwayne Karoma will be in the rotation this year. Tom Moore while scouting/recruiting to fill out this year's roster stated that some of the players they were looking at were rising players at lesser D1 schools that the UConn staff thought could impact this year's team. Karoma who is an athletic and skilled 6'8 last year averaged 11.5pts, 7.2 rebs, and 2 assists. He was 2nd in the nation in effective FG% at 71.8% mostly for his work in the paint, but he can shoot the 3. He is a 4 year veteran of D1 college ball and has gotten better each year. At 17 he was playing in the Munich German League, and now Karoma is a veteran player who is 24 years old. He very well may be our 2nd best player scoring in the paint as well as rebounding. I see him as a backup for Karaban, playing a small double big with Reibe on the floor, and just a very effective frontcourt player and defender that Hurley can have in the mix with any number of players. He will undoubtably be used when there is foul trouble with Reed and Reibe, unless staff picks up another player at the 5.

I think he’ll see some time, mostly because I think the Reed/Reibe combo is going to be relatively foul-prone. Aside from that, a bit hard for me to see him carving out a real role because it would likely come at the expense of minutes for Reibe or Stewart. If Reibe struggles to adjust to the college game, all bets are off though.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

Understandable. If the jumper doesn't translate to this level his path to PT gets tougher with our wing depth.

I have heard of athleticism not translating, even smarts. But jumpers????

 

[Iluvsuebird]

no chance Demary and Smith are splitting minutes like that, more like 25-15 or more likely 30-10. Demary is a stud

AGreed....and if they are splitting minutes like that, there was a misevaluation of Demary.

 

[jibsey]

I think Dwayne Karoma will be in the rotation this year. Tom Moore while scouting/recruiting to fill out this year's roster stated that some of the players they were looking at were rising players at lesser D1 schools that the UConn staff thought could impact this year's team. Karoma who is an athletic and skilled 6'8 last year averaged 11.5pts, 7.2 rebs, and 2 assists. He was 2nd in the nation in effective FG% at 71.8% mostly for his work in the paint, but he can shoot the 3. He is a 4 year veteran of D1 college ball and has gotten better each year. At 17 he was playing in the Munich German League, and now Karoma is a veteran player who is 24 years old. He very well may be our 2nd best player scoring in the paint as well as rebounding. I see him as a backup for Karaban, playing a small double big with Reibe on the floor, and just a very effective frontcourt player and defender that Hurley can have in the mix with any number of players. He will undoubtably be used when there is foul trouble with Reed and Reibe, unless staff picks up another player at the 5.

We don’t need him to shoot the 3 but to go to war in the paint. The 7 rebounds jumps out. Gotta watch his tapes again.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I think Dwayne Karoma will be in the rotation this year. Tom Moore while scouting/recruiting to fill out this year's roster stated that some of the players they were looking at were rising players at lesser D1 schools that the UConn staff thought could impact this year's team. Karoma who is an athletic and skilled 6'8 last year averaged 11.5pts, 7.2 rebs, and 2 assists. He was 2nd in the nation in effective FG% at 71.8% mostly for his work in the paint, but he can shoot the 3. He is a 4 year veteran of D1 college ball and has gotten better each year. At 17 he was playing in the Munich German League, and now Karoma is a veteran player who is 24 years old. He very well may be our 2nd best player scoring in the paint as well as rebounding. I see him as a backup for Karaban, playing a small double big with Reibe on the floor, and just a very effective frontcourt player and defender that Hurley can have in the mix with any number of players. He will undoubtably be used when there is foul trouble with Reed and Reibe, unless staff picks up another player at the 5.

Stewart should be a better player than Koroma, it makes more sense for him and Alex to play all the PF minutes, which opens up minutes on the wing for Furphy or Ross, two guys also potentially more talented than Koroma. He's a nice practice body and emergency option at the 4 though.

 

[fatlucy]

Ross is family but he’s given no indication that he’ll earn minutes on any level. Stewart regressed last year and should be terrified of the competition he’s about to face with Mullins and Furpy. Stew has the talent, he just has to take the minutes, or he’ll be on the bench cheering.

All our players are family but there is no loyalty when it comes to PT. The best player plays. The rest sit and work on their game.

 

[REB1094]

We don’t need him to shoot the 3 but to go to war in the paint. The 7 rebounds jumps out. Gotta watch his tapes again.

Koroma did well against high major competition. 10pts on 5-5 shooting vs Syracuse, 13/5 on 6-9 against us, 22/8 on 9-11 against Notre Dame. I don't think he will be a regular rotation guy, but if he's in the game for emergencies, I won't stress about it. Dude can hoop

 

[husky429]

Ross is family but he’s given no indication that he’ll earn minutes on any level. Stewart regressed last year and should be terrified of the competition he’s about to face with Mullins and Furpy. Stew has the talent, he just has to take the minutes, or he’ll be on the bench cheering.

All our players are family but there is no loyalty when it comes to PT. The best player plays. The rest sit and work on their game.

Stewart did not regress last year

 

[B1GEast]

I think Dwayne Karoma will be in the rotation this year. Tom Moore while scouting/recruiting to fill out this year's roster stated that some of the players they were looking at were rising players at lesser D1 schools that the UConn staff thought could impact this year's team. Karoma who is an athletic and skilled 6'8 last year averaged 11.5pts, 7.2 rebs, and 2 assists. He was 2nd in the nation in effective FG% at 71.8% mostly for his work in the paint, but he can shoot the 3. He is a 4 year veteran of D1 college ball and has gotten better each year. At 17 he was playing in the Munich German League, and now Karoma is a veteran player who is 24 years old. He very well may be our 2nd best player scoring in the paint as well as rebounding. I see him as a backup for Karaban, playing a small double big with Reibe on the floor, and just a very effective frontcourt player and defender that Hurley can have in the mix with any number of players. He will undoubtably be used when there is foul trouble with Reed and Reibe, unless staff picks up another player at the 5.

Karoma is my dark horse pick to surprise and I think he can get lots of minutes. He didn't come here to sit on the bench. I think he plays his way into the rotation eventually. If he doesn't, still a quality guy to have in emergency situations.

 

[3rdbass]

Not really all that concerned with how things fall beyond 8 guys. 9-12 aren’t the difference makers. I just can’t see Stew seeing majority minutes at the 3 as the season evolves. We can’t have 3 non dribble drive guys at 2-4, again. If you’re telling me that AK/Stew/Solo are all of a sudden going to be deadly off the bounce, I’d say bs. And we can’t have only one guy on the floor that can create off dribble or we’ll stagnate. My hopes are that once Mullins gets up to speed he’s at the 3 and Stew is playing backup 4 and the 3 when Silas/Smith in the back court together.

I think you are underselling Stewart on offense. He has shown in flashes that he can be crafty creating his own shot off the dribble. He has also added some weight so hopefully that allows him to take the contact. I think he will be fine at the 3 and will build off end of year performance to be be a big part of the offense. If he fails we have Mullins or playing both PGs off the bench as Demarry can guard the 3 with his strength and size. We definitely have options but right now I think Stew is going to be big for us at the 3.

 

[HooperScooper]

Karoma is my dark horse pick to surprise and I think he can get lots of minutes. He didn't come here to sit on the bench. I think he plays his way into the rotation eventually. If he doesn't, still a quality guy to have in emergency situations.

I'm not sure any of the current 13 scholarship players came to UConn to sit on the bench (well maybe Jacob Ross expected not to play this season) but the fact is there are going to be at least 3 players who won't play much, if at all. Koroma is in the group as one of those that might not play. We'll see.

 

[RuffRuff]

I think you are underselling Stewart on offense. He has shown in flashes that he can be crafty creating his own shot off the dribble. He has also added some weight so hopefully that allows him to take the contact. I think he will be fine at the 3 and will build off end of year performance to be be a big part of the offense. If he fails we have Mullins or playing both PGs off the bench as Demarry can guard the 3 with his strength and size. We definitely have options but right now I think Stew is going to be big for us at the 3.

Key word, flashes. He was also absent for long stretches. And he was bad on D a lot of the time. So yeah maybe he can extend the flashes.

As for weight - weight on his frame point to a 4 body.

 

[mauconnfan]

Ross was used last year to shut down an opposing player from going off with his athleticism. Have to see if Mullins or Furphy can do that.

The problem is this year if they bring him in to shut down someone he’ll need to do that for minutes. I’m not sure what everyone saw but his defense wasn’t shutdown worthy he needs to get better and move his feet instead of going for ball and head fakes. He has potential but that’s all we saw. Here’s hoping!

 

[Scottobot]

I think you are underselling Stewart on offense. He has shown in flashes that he can be crafty creating his own shot off the dribble. He has also added some weight so hopefully that allows him to take the contact. I think he will be fine at the 3 and will build off end of year performance to be be a big part of the offense. If he fails we have Mullins or playing both PGs off the bench as Demarry can guard the 3 with his strength and size. We definitely have options but right now I think Stew is going to be big for us at the 3.

I don’t remember Stewart creating his own shot, or being able to dribble. He was a good shooter from 3 in some games, and good at scoring on the fast break and some offensive rebounds. My recollection is he struggled when he put ball on floor in half court sets. If he can create his own shot, and not turn ball over on offense, and play defense and get defensive boards along with what he showed last year he will get PT. I think he has the talent to do it, but his ball handling needs some polish.

 

[jibsey]

Stew on shooting form, physicality, size, and strength should be a superstar. Whatever skills he lacked to get there I hope he is working on this summer. But the summer transformations of players often never happens. Stew and Ross are going to be different players than last year we can all expect?

 

[AllHusky]

My sense with Stew is he will be primed to assume the starting 4 his senior year. This year, he’ll get 20 between the 3/4, backing up AK and mainly playing the 3 when Solo is off the floor and we roll out a Demary/Smith back court for stretches.

I tend to think the biggest head to head competition for minutes in camp will be Ross and Furphy. May the best man win.

2026 will be where Ross and Stew’s investment in the program pays off. Both seem to have upside, but later bloomers. Maybe they blow it out this year, but I have to see it to believe it.

Assuming Mullins is OAD, with Solo and Demary also potentially moving on if they blow up this year, 2026 is why Stew/Ross are sticking around. That years roster likely starts with Reibe, Stew, Furphy/Ross.

My tendency is to evaluate Furphy based on what I saw and read about at the FIBA Cup. While certainly great competition, it is not Big East and NCAA level competition. Your comment re: Ross v. Furphy brought things into a more realistic focus. In daily practices, Furphy will go up against an upperclassmen with a huge investment in the program, with tons of physical ability and alot to lose if he doesn't breakout this year. Not going to be an easy row to hoe for the kid from down under, but one that willl certainly make the Huskies ever more formidable.

 

[RuffRuff]

My tendency is to evaluate Furphy based on what I saw and read about at the FIBA Cup. While certainly great competition, it is not Big East and NCAA level competition. Your comment re: Ross v. Furphy brought things into a more realistic focus. In daily practices, Furphy will go up against an upperclassmen with a huge investment in the program, with tons of physical ability and alot to lose if he doesn't breakout this year. Not going to be an easy row to hoe for the kid from down under, but one that willl certainly make the Huskies ever more formidable.

We’ll see - Furphy looks like a much more skilled offensive player, and he has size. Will be fun to see how it plays out.

 

[3rdbass]

Key word, flashes. He was also absent for long stretches. And he was bad on D a lot of the time. So yeah maybe he can extend the flashes.

As for weight - weight on his frame point to a 4 body.

But he does have the athletic ability to play the 3 in college

 

[Lafayette]

Tough to evaluate a foreign player who didn't get he benefit of being rated properly here, stats vs other prep schools or generally the same info, stats, and video we could get for say, Mullins.

First eyes on U19 really for most, and dropped 24 on USA and ran it back the same for the next opponent. Would say he is the best player for Australia's team, and played a nice Big East style with a cool lefty floater to the rim.

Translate that to US players would likely be ~20th ranked on 247/On3 and we'd all be smiles.

But for the betterment of doubt - we shall see once practices and early preseason games start.

 

[3rdbass]

I don’t remember Stewart creating his own shot, or being able to dribble. He was a good shooter from 3 in some games, and good at scoring on the fast break and some offensive rebounds. My recollection is he struggled when he put ball on floor in half court sets. If he can create his own shot, and not turn ball over on offense, and play defense and get defensive boards along with what he showed last year he will get PT. I think he has the talent to do it, but his ball handling needs some polish.

He did i flashes dribble and take a jump shot closer to the basket. He was known out of high school being able to create his own shot but I think playjng behind others he has become not aggressive looking for his offense. I think by his off-season remarks he knows it is his time to step up and be aggressive on offense. If not we have other options at the 3. Hopefully we get the Jaylin we saw at the end of last year but with more aggression.