University of Connecticut Athletics
Five Huskies Earn Preseason All-BIG EAST Honors
10/21/2025 8:00:01 AM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – A total of five from the No. 4 UConn's men's basketball team received preseason accolades from the BIG EAST Conference, the league announced ahead of Media Day on Tuesday morning (Oct. 21). Solo Ball, Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. were all named All-Conference Preseason First Team, with Silas Demary Jr. nabbing a spot on the Second Team. Braylon Mullins was selected as the league's Preseason Freshman of the Year, marking the third-straight season a Husky has received that honor. In addition, the league's head coaches slated UConn to finish second in the preseason poll.
The Huskies are the first BIG EAST team to place three members on the league's Preseason All-Conference First Team since Villanova ahead of 2005-06, when Randy Foye, Allan Ray and Curtis Sumpter were Preseason All-BIG EAST and the honor was a single team. Mullins joins Stephon Castle and Liam McNeeley as the third-straight Preseason Freshman of the Year pick hailing from Storrs. Both Castle and McNeeley went on to win the postseason honor before becoming First Round NBA Draft picks.
Ball and Karaban earn their preseason honors after being named to the 2025 All-Conference Second Team, while Reed Jr. was the league's 2025 Sixth Man Award winner. Demary Jr. previously received a conference honor in 2024 when he was named to the SEC All-Freshman team and Mullins was a 2025 McDonald's All-America pick.
The Huskies return nearly 60 percent of their scoring from last season, headlined by their three Preseason First Team picks who were three of Connecticut's top four scorers a year ago. Karaban returns after posting a career-high 14.3 points per game in '24-25 along with 5.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.5 blocks per game. He is climbing the ranks of the UConn all-time scoring leaders, currently sitting in 27th with 1,353 career points.
Ball emerged last season as of the nation's premiere 3-point shooters, connecting on 99 triples at a 41.4 percent clip to rank among the national leaders. He is coming off a breakout sophomore season in which more than quadrupled his scoring output and averaged 14.4. points per game. Reed Jr. was the 2025 BIG EAST Sixth Man Award winner after a strong first season in Storrs in which the big man averaged 9.6 points, a team-high 7.3 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game and shot 67.0 percent in 19.9 minutes a night.
The preseason honor for Demary Jr. comes ahead of the highly-touted transfer's first campaign at Connecticut. He averaged 11.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game over two seasons at Georgia and is a career 35.3 percent shooter from 3-point range. Mullins takes home Preseason Freshman of the Year after setting the all-time scoring record at Greenfield-Central High and earning McDonald's All-America and Indiana "Mr. Basketball" laurels.
Connecticut was selected to finish second by the league's head coaches and received four first place votes, narrowly finishing behind favorite St. John's 97-94 in total points. The Huskies have won the league's regular season title 11 times and the tournament crown on eight occasions – both the most in conference history.
The regular season for the Huskies begins on Nov. 3 at Gampel Pavilion. UConn will play five foes ranked in the first AP Top 25 over the course of non-conference play.
