Silas Demary Jr. and Alex Karaban of UConn are two of the 30 players nationwide to earn a spot on the 2026 Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Late-Season Team.

The list was announced Thursday by the Atlanta Tip-Off Club.

Despite the program’s success, UConn never has had a Naismith Men's College Player of the Year.

Demary is winding up his first season with the Huskies after having transferred from Georgia. He has turned out to be the floor general head coach Dan Hurley was looking for via the transfer portal, and Demary’s 6.5 assists per game lead the Big East.

He also is averaging 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, and his 175 total assists put him 11th in the country.

Demary also is shooting 48.8% from the floor, 45.2% from 3-point territory and 79.4% percent from the free-throw line.

Karaban, a four-year starter, has just four regular-season games remaining in a college career that will put him in the UConn record books.

On the season, he is averaging 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. He’s averaging 47.5% shooting from the field, 40.8% from long distance and 83.1% on foul shots.

Last week, he became UConn’s leader in all-time wins (116) and games started (137). With 1,703 career points, the two-time national champion stands 12th on UConn’s all-time scoring list. With four more points, he will pass Jalen Adams (2015-19, 1,706 points) and then could surpass Christian Vital (2016-20, 1,735 points) to reach No. 10.

Demary and Karaban are two of the three Big East players chosen. The other is Zuby Ejiofor of St. John's.

Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year Late-Season Team

Name, Year, Position, School

Darius Acuff Jr., Fr., F, Arkansas

Nate Ament, Fr., F, Tennessee

Christian Anderson, Soph., F, Texas Tech

Flory Bidunga, Soph., F, Kansas

Cameron Boozer, Fr., F, Duke

Jaden Bradley, Sr., F, Arizona

Brayden Burries, Fr., F, Arizona

Silas Demary Jr., Jr., F, UConn

AJ Dybantsa, Fr., F, BYU

Zuby Ejiofor, Sr., F, St. John's

Jeremy Fears Jr., Soph., F, Michigan State

Kingston Flemings, Fr., F, Houston

Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Sr., F, Tennessee

Keyshawn Hall, Sr., F, Auburn

Thomas Haugh, Jr., F, Florida

Graham Ike, Graduate Student, F, Gonzaga

Joshua Jefferson, Sr., F, Iowa State

Alex Karaban, Sr., F, UConn

Yaxel Lendeborg, Graduate Student, F, Michigan

Ebuka Okorie, Fr., F, Stanford

Darryn Peterson, Fr., F, Kansas

Labaron Philon Jr., Soph., F, Alabama

Pryce Sandfort, Jr., F, Nebraska

Braden Smith, Sr., F, Purdue

Bennett Stirtz, Sr., F, Iowa

Tyler Tanner, Soph., F, Vanderbilt

Bruce Thornton, Sr., F, Ohio State

JT Toppin, Jr., F, Texas Tech

Keaton Wagler, Fr., F, Illinois

Caleb Wilson, Fr., F, North Carolina

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