The two standouts were among 73 players invited to the Chicago event, to be held May 10-17.
UConn basketball alums Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. are among the 73 draft-eligible players to be invited to the 2026 NBA Scouting Combine.
The NBA released the list on Friday.
The combine will be held May 10-17 in Chicago, with Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis serving as event venues. Wintrust is the home of DePaul men’s basketball, so Reed and Karaban are familiar with it after Big East stops there.
Some players who take part in the 2026 NBA G League Draft Combine, also held in Chicago from May 8-10, will be asked to stay for the subsequent combine.
All invited players are required to attend and participate in the combine under terms of the NBA collective bargaining agreement. If a player cannot attend, the NBA can choose to excuse that invitee and require draft combine activities to be completed on a future date.
What happens at the combine?
The players go through a weeklong test that requires tremendous physical skill but also mental stamina.
Players will be measured, undergo medical exams and show off their abilities in events that include sprints, bench press, vertical jumping and shooting. They’ll step on the court with temporary “teammates” to compete in 5-on-5 scrimmges.
All the while, dozens of coaches, general managers and scouts will be watching.
Players will sit down with those same team executives for interviews – conversations that teams use to determine a player’s fit for their organizations.
Will Reed and Karaban be drafted?
Players never have a guarantee, but it certainly is likely that the two ex-Huskies will be selected by an NBA team. There are 30 draft slots in each round, and two rounds.
At this point, we are in the midst of mock draft season, and the mock picks are the best guesses of the analysts who spend time watching film and talking to coaches – even before the draft lottery is held to determine the order of the first pick.
Both ESPN and The Athletic updated their mock drafts this week
The ESPN mock draft by Jeremy Woo projected Karaban as the No. 31 selection, taken by the New York Knicks with the first pick of the second round. Reed, a center/forward, was predicted to be taken by the Miami Heat with the No. 42 selection, according to the April 28 draft from Woo.
As for The Athletic analyst Sam Vicenie, he sees Reed and Karaban both going to New York – Reed at No. 26 and Karaban at 31.
For both UConn players, the combine will provide a chance to improve their draft status, and Karaban undoubtedly would like to get out of that No. 31 spot. The 30 first-picks earn guaranteed contracts on their rookie deals. Picks 31-60 do not, which is why teams often will stockpile second-round picks to save money.
Underclassmen will have until June 13 to pull put of the draft. Sometimes, players will just “test the waters” of the draft and get feedback from the teams about their current draft prospects before deciding to return to college for another season.
That does not apply to either Karaban or Reed, both of whom are out of eligibility.
Braylon Mullins, UConn's freshman star guard, decided to return to school and put off entering the draft until 2027.
When is the draft?
The 2026 NBA Draft will be held June 23 and 24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
The first night will be devoted to first-round picks. Second-round selections will be made the following night.
The draft starts at 8 p.m. each night. ABC and ESPN will televise Round 1. Only ESPN will have coverage of the second night.
The full draft order will be known after the NBA draft lottery on May 10. ABC will air the lottery at 3 p.m. ET.
The combine group
Here are the 73 players heading to the 2026 NBA Scouting Combine.
Player Name, College/Club
Matt Able, North Carolina State
Darius Acuff Jr., Arkansas
Amari Allen, Alabama
Nate Ament, Tennessee
Christian Anderson Jr., Texas Tech
Tobe Awaka, Arizona
Flory Bidunga, Kansas
Tyler Bilodeau, UCLA
John Blackwell, Wisconsin
Cameron Boozer, Duke
Kylan Boswell, Illinois
Nick Boyd, Wisconsin
Jaden Bradley, Arizona
Trevon Brazile, Arkansas
Maliq Brown, Duke
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville
Brayden Burries, Arizona
Cameron Carr, Baylor
Chris Cenac Jr., Houston
Rueben Chinyelu, Florida
Ryan Conwell, Louisville
AJ Dybantsa, BYU
Zuby Ejiofor, St. John’s
Isaiah Evans, Duke
Jeremy Fears Jr., Michigan State
Kingston Flemings, Houston
Ja’Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee
Allen Graves, Santa Clara
Keyshawn Hall, Auburn
Juke Harris, Wake Forest
Joshua Jefferson, Iowa State
Morez Johnson Jr., Michigan
Alex Karaban, UConn
Jack Kayil, Alba Berlin (Germany)
Sergio de Larrea, Valencia (Spain)
Tobi Lawal, Virginia Tech
Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan
Karim Lopez, New Zealand Breakers (Australia)
Aday Mara, Michigan
Nick Martinelli, Northwestern
Baba Miller, Cincinnati
Dillon Mitchell, St. John’s
Milan Momcilovic, Iowa State
Malachi Moreno, Kentucky
Izaiyah Nelson, South Florida
Tyler Nickel, Vanderbilt
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford
Felix Okpara, Tennessee
Ugonna Onyenso, Virginia
Otega Oweh, Kentucky
Koa Peat, Arizona
Darryn Peterson, Kansas
Labaron Philon Jr., Alabama
Jayden Quaintance, Kentucky
Tarris Reed Jr., UConn
Billy Richmond III, Arkansas
Richie Saunders, BYU
Emanuel Sharp, Houston
Braden Smith, Purdue
Hannes Steinbach, Washington
Bennett Stirtz, Iowa
Andrej Stojaković, Illinois
Peter Suder, Miami (OH)
Luigi Suigo, Mega (Serbia)
Dailyn Swain, Texas
Tyler Tanner, Vanderbilt
Meleek Thomas, Arkansas
Bruce Thornton, Ohio State
Milos Uzan, Houston
Henri Veesaar, North Carolina
Keaton Wagler, Illinois
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina
Tounde Yessoufou, Baylor
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