2022 signee Alex Karaban enrolls at UConn

After months of speculation, UConn officially announced that class of 2022 signee Alex Karaban has graduated early from IMG Academy and enrolled at UConn. Karaban is not expected to play this season but can still practice and travel with the team. He will occupy one of the Huskies’ two open athletic scholarships.

Karaban, a 6-foot-8, 210 pound forward, spent this year at IMG Academy in Florida after two years at New Hampton School in New Hampshire. He was named the New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year last season after averaging 25.8 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Karaban played sparingly at IMG due to suffering a broken left wrist early in the fall, but should be able to practice without issue the rest of season.

The Northborough, Massachusetts native committed to UConn in August, choosing the Huskies over Stanford, Iowa and Creighton. ESPN currently has Karaban ranked as a four-star prospect and the No. 42 recruit in the class of 2022. He’s regarded as a prototypical modern big man who is highly skilled and can shoot well from deep while providing rebounding help on both ends.

Karaban joins Corey Floyd Jr. as the second member of a highly-touted 2022 recruiting class to enroll early, with Floyd coming in this summer just prior to the start of the fall semester. Karaban and Floyd’s early enrollment leaves 7-foot-2 center Donovan Clingan as the Huskies’ only true 2022 recruit at this time.

Dan Hurley has not been afraid to have commits join early, having done so with Richie Springs and Floyd graduating early to enroll in the fall, and now Akok Akok and Karaban joining in the spring.

Instead of dominating high school competition for a little while longer, players like Floyd and Karaban can begin acclimating to college life and Hurley’s system earlier while practicing against better competition and getting a jump-start on their undergraduate degrees.