Enough of the 2025-26 college basketball season has passed for analysts to recognize the draft potential of players across the NCAA.

Wednesday’s opinion comes from Sam Vecenie of The Athletic, which published its first 2026 NBA Draft Big Board. Vecenie ranked the top 100 prospects, which included four UConn starters.

No UConn player was projected in the top three, with those honors going to AJ Dybantsa of BYU, Darryn Peterson of Kansas and Cameron Boozer of Duke.

UConn and Duke have not met this season, but Peterson was out with injury on Dec. 21 when the Huskies defeated the Jayhawks 61-56. Dybantsa, tied for tops in the nation in scoring (23.1 points per game), had 25 points and six rebounds when UConn narrowly beat BYU 86-84 on Nov. 15.

UConn freshman Braylon Mullins, whose career start was delayed by an ankle injury, did not play against BYU and has been limited to just nine games for the Huskies (14-1).

Still, the sample size was large enough for The Athletic to rank Mullins as the Huskies’ top prospect, sliding him in at No. 17.

Mullins has shown great promise as head coach Dan Hurley has worked Mullins into first, the rotation, and now the starting lineup. Indiana’s “Mr. Basketball” and a McDonald’s All-American in 2025, Mullins is averaging 9.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 22.3 minutes per game. He is shooting 34% from 3-point range.

So just where did the rest of UConn’s terrific starting five land on The Athletic’s list?

Redshirt senior forward Alex Karaban, who could become the rarest of players to win three national championships, is next on the top-100 list at No. 34.

On the season, the 6-foot-8 Karaban is averaging 13.2 points and 5.5 rebounds and shooting 41.8% from long distance in 15 games.

Hurley gave Karaban high praise last week after he scored 19 points to lead the Huskies over Xavier.

"Alex set a tone,” he said, per David Borges of CT Insider. “He's been a Big East Player of the Year/All-American-level player for us this year. Just another typical Alex Karaban. The most under-appreciated great player in college basketball ... Captain America."

Coming in at No. 43 was big man Tarris Reed Jr., the 6-11 senior. Injuries have limited him to 10 games, but he’s been key in the middle, averaging 13.9 points per game on 63.3% shooting and adding 7.7 boards.

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And at No. 57 is junior guard Silas Demary Jr., a Georgia transfer who has excelled at running the offense this season. He’s averaging 5.7 assists to go with 9.1 points and 4.5 rebounds.

Noticeably absent from the list is 6-4 junior guard Solo Ball, who leads UConn with 15.6 points per game. Here’s the reasoning behind that from Vecenie, who clearly thinks Ball should spend a final season at UConn.

“I also don’t rank underclassmen outside of the top 70. As R.J. Luis learned last year, there is no reason to declare for the NBA Draft if you aren’t going to be selected -- or even if you are selected but end up on a two-way contract,” he wrote. “You will likely make three times as much money in college as you would on a two-way contract. Players who this rule impacted this time around include San Diego State wing Miles Byrd, Arkansas wing Karter Knox, Connecticut guard Solo Ball, Iowa forward Alvaro Folgueiras, Purdue big Daniel Jacobsen and dozens of others.”

The rankings can be fickle with more than five months still to go until the draft. Stay tuned.

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