Aidan Mahaney has also earned some preseason recognition.
UConn men’s basketball teammates Alex Karaban and Liam McNeeley have both been named to the Jersey Mikes Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year Watch List Wednesday for the upcoming season.
The Naismith Award is given annually to the top athlete in both men’s and women’s college basketball, but prior to each season, the organization will recognize 50 players capable of bringing home the award. Out of the 50, the Big East has seven total nominees, the third-most of any conference behind the Big Ten and SEC (10 each).
Karaban has consistently progressed in each of his first two seasons in Storrs. The junior forward’s production is expected to increase as his role only grows under head coach Dan Hurley. Last season, Karaban averaged 13.3 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game on an incredibly efficient 49.5 shooting percentage from the floor.
McNeeley, who was also named to the Julius Erving Award Watchlist — awarded to the top small forward in the country each year — enters his first season with the Huskies as one of the most highly-touted freshmen in the country. Both nominations are high honors for the 6-foot-7 Texas native, who has yet to appear in an official game outside of UConn’s exhibition win over URI on Oct. 14. The former five-star recruit is expected to play a big role in the Huskies’ push for a third-consecutive national championship, and his naming to the Naismith watch list is symbolic of Hurley’s hopes for the young forward.
In addition, Aidan Mahaney was added to the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Top 20 Watch List. Mahaney, a Saint Mary’s transfer, scored 17 points in 23 minutes against URI in UConn’s exhibition game earlier this month — a performance emblematic of what the coaching staff hopes to see from Mahaney in his first year in Storrs.
Throughout UConn program history, no member of a men’s team has ever won the Naismith College Player of the Year Award, Julius Erving Small Forward Award or Jerry West Shooting Guard Award. Karaban, McNeeley and Mahaney all seek to be the first Husky to do so on their respective watchlists.
Just three Huskies have won a Naismith Starting-5 Award, most recently Tristen Newton, who was recognized last year as the winner of the Bob Cousy award, given annually to the nation’s best point guard. Shabazz Napier won the award in 2014, preceded by Kemba Walker who did the same in 2011.