Alex Karaban is adjusting to life as an NBA player, but he remains locked in on the UConn Huskies.

If a “Mr. UConn Basketball” award existed, Karaban would have won it by now. UConn’s all-time leader in games played and wins, Karaban spent some of his down time this summer working out in the gym in Storrs. He maintained his relationships with his former teammates and the coaching staff and got a good look at the transfers and freshmen.

He walked away impressed as he continued his transition from UConn icon to NBA rookie for the Sacramento Kings, who selected him in the first round of the NBA draft in June. 

“I pretty much watched a lot of their workouts and it was like weird not participating in them,” Karaban said on the latest episode of the Connecticut Scoreboard Podcast, which dropped Sunday night. “It was great. Loving what I see from them, but it is a weird feeling just not wearing that jersey anymore.”

Karaban, 23, was around the Huskies enough this summer to walk away with some strong thoughts about the latest version of the Huskies.

Karaban and his teammates clearly were close. He said he is staying in touch with Jayden Ross, Braylon Mullins, Silas Demary Jr. and Solo Ball, and he sees the same type of bond developing with the next generation of Huskies.

“It's a younger team and you definitely see how close they are, how much they care about each other, how competitive they are out there on the court and just how much energy they bring every single day,” Karaban told host Jared Kotler.

“I think that's something that could easily carry them forward through the entire season and you know, if there's any adversity, just having that togetherness for the entire year and they have a lot of talent, too. A lot of talent.”

Karaban said he is eager to see the team take the court in its first of three exhibition games. That’s against Syracuse on Oct. 13 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.

He won’t be in attendance; he and the Kings have a preseason game that night against the Portland Trail Blazers, where he will see an old UConn teammate, Donovan Clingan. 

Head coach Dan Hurley set out to create a nonconference schedule that would be tough enough to battle test the Huskies for March Madness.

How did his efforts turn out? Well, he set up a slate that includes games against national champion Michigan, Duke, Arizona, Ohio State, Illinois, Virginia and Kansas.

“That's a crazy schedule. I mean, that's a crazy schedule,” Karaban, a two-time national champion, said. “Coach always finds a way to level up every single year with the nonconference.”

He continued: “I mean it is why you come to UConn. You want to go to UConn to play those big-time games and those big-time environments. So, it's exciting, but it's also, you know, it's going to test you. You're going to see if you're ready. You're going to see where your team's at. And, you know, it's only going to help you for March.”

So often, the cameras at college games cut to the alumni in the stands, the guys in the NBA who have returned to watch their alma maters play. Karaban doesn’t think he will be spotted in the stands in the upcoming season at Gampel Pavilion, PeoplesBank Arena or at any road venue.

Just as with the Syracuse game, he expects to have schedule conflicts.

“Once our schedule came out and their schedule came out. I tried matching like with games that I could make and I don't think I can make a single game this year, which broke my heart,” he said.

But he will watch on TV, he said, especially interested in the Michigan and Duke contests, rematches of games UConn played in the NCAA Tournament last spring.

There’s a benefit about watching on television from Sacramento that the Boston-area native and East Coast kid probably hasn’t thought much about yet. When you watch an 8 p.m. game at 5 p.m. out west, you still have a chance for a good night’s sleep.