Dan Hurley Had High Praise for UConn Legend Alex Karaban After Emotional Senior Day Win

As UConn men's basketball senior Alex Karaban walked out onto the floor alongside his family at Gampel Pavilion for the team's Senior Day, he started to break down in tears as he approached Huskies coach Dan Hurley. That's when the normally-intense Hurley broke character.

“To see him crying like a baby coming out, I just lost it right there when I saw it,” Hurley told reporters after the game.

The longest-tenured Huskies player then embraced his coach as the tears continued to pour out, along with a couple of chuckles after Hurley leaned in and jokingly ribbed Karaban for making them both cry.

Emotions are flowing for Dan Hurley and Alex Karaban on @UConnMBB's Senior Day 💙 pic.twitter.com/YSj1O28RWA
— FOX College Hoops (@CBBonFOX) February 28, 2026

Then, Karaban went out and played one of his best games of the year, matching his season-high with 23 points while draining five threes and adding a pair of steals and blocks each in the Huskies' 71-67 win over Seton Hall. Trailing at the half and then down by seven points with 8:13 remaining in the game, it was fittingly Karaban, with back-to-back three-pointers, who helped spark a Huskies' 10-0 run that ultimately helped them stave off their Big East rival.

After the game, Hurley was effusive in his praise of Karaban.

“He's one of the greatest players that's worn the uniform,” Hurley said. “There's players that have gone on from here and had careers in the NBA—and there's a lot of them—but when they were in the uniform, who's done more than this guy? Who's done more while they wore the uniform than this guy? Because in sports it all comes down to, 'Did you win for your organization? Did you win championships? Did you win games?'

“And that's why I think he's one of the greatest players to put the uniform on.”

Hurley showed his praise for Karaban with more than just words. The fact that Karaban became the 25th UConn men's basketball player to be inducted into the Huskies of Honor—and the first to earn the honor while in the midst of his career—spoke volumes to how Hurley and the rest of the program view his contributions.

Karaban, after redshirting in 2021-22, played meaningful minutes for a championship-winning Huskies team in 2022-23, then played an even larger role on the UConn team that successfully defended its title the following year. To his credit, Karaban, after a difficult year for both he and the Huskies in 2024-25, returned for a final season and has produced on the court similarly to how he did during the program's back-to-back title-winning campaigns.

In many ways, Karaban has been rewarded for both his loyalty to—and longevity at—UConn.

“You see how the fans reacted. They were cheering,” Karaban said. “Just celebrating what I'd done for four years here and that's something I can't trade for. Having a legacy at UConn, doing everything you can for four years. Just having the fan support. Having Coach Hurley and the coaching staff's support. Just building all these relationships with great teammates I've had for four years. It's something I wouldn't trade for [anything].

“And I know being here for four years I can come back to UConn whenever and it's always a home for me. No matter how good or bad my life's going, I know Storrs is always home for me. That's something you don't find often now with college basketball where players are jumping around all the time. If you want your legacy to be made and you want special moments and a special career and build a relationship, not just with the coaches and teammates but with the fans, you want to stay four years.”

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dan Hurley Had High Praise for UConn Legend Alex Karaban After Emotional Senior Day Win.

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