No. 4 UConn reloads behind Braylon Mullins, Silas Demary Jr. and plenty of talented newcomers

UConn made it to the NCAA Tournament championship game for the third time in four seasons before falling to Michigan. Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban were taken in the first round of the NBA Draft. With Solo Ball expected to miss the entire 2026-27 season after undergoing wrist surgery, the Huskies will be without their top three scorers. Returning starters Braylon Mullins and Silas Demary Jr. will be joined by a strong group of transfers and a talented group of freshmen.

There are a lot of moving parts for Dan Hurley and his staff to deal with, but there’s more than enough talent for the Huskies to challenge for the Big East title and make more noise in the NCAAs.

Mullins, who might have been a late lottery pick in the NBA draft, is back. He teams with Big East preseason Player of the Year Demary to give the Huskies one of nation's best backcourts. Transfers Na'jai Hines and Nik Khamenia come in from Seton Hall and Duke, respectively, and will be asked to replace some of the production. Colben Landrew could follow in the footsteps of Stephon Castle, Liam McNeeley and Mullins as recent freshmen who stepped in immediately for the Huskies.

Only three of the nine UConn players to average more than 10 minutes per game are back this season, with Jayden Ross returning along with Demary and Mullins. ... Jaylin Stewart, who started 24 games over the previous two seasons, is now at SMU and Eric Reibe transferred to USC. ... Khamenia, Hines, Oskar Giltay and Nils Machowski are key incoming transfers. Junior County is a freshman expected to play significant minutes.

UConn plays the other three 2026 Final Four teams and seven teams ranked in the preseason AP Top 25 poll . It starts with a national championship rematch against No. 16 Michigan in Boston. ... In a four-game stretch, the Huskies play at No. 5 Arizona, face No. 2 Duke in Las Vegas and face third-ranked Illinois at the United Center in Chicago. ... The top on-campus game during non-conference play will come on Dec. 12 against No. 17 Kansas and eight days later, the Huskies face No. 9 Virginia at Madison Square Garden. UConn meets No. 13 St. John’s on Jan. 29 at MSG and March 2 in Hartford.

UConn returns just 41% of its scoring, 26% of its rebounding and 34% of its minutes played ... UConn was picked to finish first in the Big East preseason poll. ... UConn saw assistant coach Luke Murray leave to take the Boston College head coaching job. ...For the first time in Dan Hurley’s ninth season at UConn, the Huskies won’t have a New England native on the roster.