A pair of UConn 7-foot freshmen entered the transfer portal on Friday, leaving the Huskies without any centers on the roster.

Eric Reibe, who played valuable minutes behind Tarris Reed Jr. this season, and little-used Rrezon Elezaj both will be looking for new programs, according to the portal tracker of 247Sports.

Their plans came amid a report Friday from UConn student journalist Sam Calhoun that said the Huskies had reached out to Najai Hines of Seton Hall and Andrew McKeever of Saint Mary’s as possibilities to man the center position.

A report earlier this week also linked McKeever’s teammate, forward Paulius Murauskas, potentially to UConn.

In a post Friday afternoon on social media, Reibe said goodbye to the Huskies and thanked his family, coaches, teammates and fans.

His statement read in part:

“To Coach Hurley and the entire UConn staff, thank you for holding me to a high standard every single day. You didn’t just develop me as a basketball player, but as a man.

“To my teammates, thank you for competing with me, pushing me, and building relationships that will last far beyond basketball.”

He concluded: “After careful consideration, I have decided to enter the NCAA transfer portal to continue my academic and athletic career.”

At least one of those teammates, Reed, quickly responded to Reibe.

“My brother, go be great. Love you bro (heart) Proud of you and blessed to be a part of your journey,” Reed wrote

The 7-foot-1, 260-pound Reibe, originally from Germany, was a four-star recruit and the No. 5 center in the 2025 class coming out of The Bullis School in Maryland, according to 247Sports. The service has listed him as a four-star transfer, as well. He was a McDonald's All-American.

Reibe, 19, appeared in 40 games for UConn, starting five times when Reed was dealing with injuries.  

One of those games was the 71-67  loss to Arizona on Nov. 19, when Reibe scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including two 3-footers. He added five rebounds.

And in the Huskies’ 61-56 win at Kansas on Dec. 2, he played a career-high 31 minutes, pulled down eight rebounds and scored 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Reed also missed that game.

On the season, Reibe averaged 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 13.8 minutes per game. He shot 65.8% from the field.

As for Elezaj, he is a 7-2, 225-pounder originally from Kosovo before moving to Turkey. The 2025-26 season will count as a redshirt year, and he will have four years of eligibility remaining,

He appeared in the very late stages of four games, playing five total minutes. He had three rebounds and no points.

Elezaj, who turns 19 next month, still has developing to do. But there will be coaches interested in Elezaj, despite his limited experience, because of the head start he got learning under Hurley and staff. 

There are a lot of moving parts with more than 2,000 players in the transfer portal -- yes, 2,000, according to Travis Branham of 247Sports. We are sure to hear more names linked to UConn, but let's start with the latest, Hines and McKeever.

Like Reibe, Hines was a blue-chip recruit in the 2025 class coming out of high school in Plainfield, N.J. 247Sports ranked him and the No. 8 center in the country, a four-star in both the high school and portal rankings.

For fellow Big East team Seton Hall, the 6-10, 265-pounder Hines played in 31 games (no starts) and averaged 6.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. He shot 60.2% from the field.

The 7-3, 285-pound McKeever will have two years of eligibility left as a redshirt junior. 247Sports ranks him as a four-star and the No. 11 center in the portal.

In the 2025-26 season, he appeared in 33 games (10 starts) for Saint Mary’s, which is about an hour from his hometown of Livermore, Calif. He averaged 8.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 23.1 minutes per game.

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