After winning their second consecutive National Championship in April 2024, the UConn men’s basketball team entered the 2024-25 season in hopes of a three-peat.
However, the No. 1 seeded Florida Gators would end up standing in the Huskies way of accomplishing such a feat.
With the result of falling in the second round, it left a bad taste in the mouths of Husky fans and in the last coming weeks, more and more players have announced their departure from the program.
The most notable player is freshman forward Liam McNeeley, who announced he would declare for the 2025 NBA draft on April 1.
“I thank my coaches and teammates that I was blessed to play alongside, and I am very grateful for the time that we spent together.” McNeeley said in a statement on his Instagram account.
Despite missing a good portion of the season due to an ankle injury, the Texas native made waves in his time as a Husky.
McNeeley finished his freshman campaign notching an average of 14.5 points per game and a field goal percentage of 37%. One of his most notable games was against the Creighton Blue Jays on Feb. 11, where the 6-foot-7 big man racked up 38 points in Connecticut’s 70-66 win over their fellow Big East foe.
McNeeley and red shirt junior Alex Karaban were the most impactful players on the roster for the Huskies this season.
In addition to McNeeeley, freshmen Isaiah Abraham, Ahmad Nowell and Youssouf Singare have entered the transfer portal. These players did not see much time on the court this season for the Huskies, averaging 1.6, 1.5 and 0.2 points per game, respectively.
In an announcement on their personal Instagram’s, Abraham will play for Georgetown and Nowell will play for VCU next season. Singare still has yet to make a decision on his destination.
As far as the upperclassmen, we will still see a good portion of them on the roster including Solo Ball, Tarris Reed Jr. and Jaylin Stewart. However, Aidan Mahaney entered the transfer portal.
Many hoped that Mahaney, a point guard, would play a similar role to that of former Husky Cam Spencer. Despite being a sharpshooter, Mahaney could not dominate in the times the Huskies needed him most.
The California native still has yet to announce where he will transfer to next season.
With all this shuffling of the roster, it gives the Huskies an opportunity to dig deep through the transfer portal to find another big and another point guard. The one roadblock standing in the way is Karaban, who has yet to decide whether he stays with the Huskies or declares for the NBA draft again.
It will be an interesting few weeks for Husky fans to see how the next few weeks unfold.
