UConn Huskies 2024-25 Preview & Big East Basketball Predictions

The Huskies are hunting for something that has not been done in over half a century: to complete an improbable three-peat in college basketball. With how much has changed in the sport since then, it’s about five times more difficult to stay elite over 36 months in today’s era of the transfer portal and NIL. Despite losing four starters from last year’s team, head coach Dan Hurley has found a way to reload his roster through multiple recruitment avenues.

Big East Previews: Butler | DePaul | Georgetown | Villanova

UConn Huskies Odds

Of course, Alex Karaban returns as the lone starter for UConn throughout their back-to-back national championship run. He has been a model of consistency for the Huskies since stepping on campus and will now be asked to step into an unfamiliar role as the team’s leader and alpha scoring option. He specializes as a three-and-D guard, but he may be asked to expand his arsenal a bit further to maintain a high level of efficiency and to keep defenders honest.

Hassan Diarra, Solo Ball, and Jaylin Stewart are other returners who will be asked to step into more prominent roles. UConn will utilize a similar level of depth as it did in each of its title runs.

None of the teams in this league will hand the Huskies the Big East crown. They will have a massive target on their backs for 20 nights in conference play this season. But we’re done doubting them, and somebody will have to strip them of this number-one ranking until we choose to do it ourselves.

UConn Huskies Top Additions

The biggest splash for UConn came early in the offseason with the pickup of Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney. The Huskies had some level of familiarity with the Moraga native after facing off with him in the second round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament, where he was held to just nine points. Hurley still clearly saw something in the former Gael because he said he was arguably the best freshman guard in the country that year during the offseason. Hurley mentioned that he hopes Mahaney will be “somewhere in between what Tristen Newton did in his first year and what Cam Spencer did in his first year."

Other vital newcomers include five-star freshman Liam McNeeley, who was scooped up quickly by UConn after recommitting from Indiana in the offseason. Hurley mentioned that they didn’t initially recruit McNeeley because they figured they had no chance of getting a recruit out of Indiana. Still, they began pursuing him the second they realized there was mutual interest. At 6’8", McNeeley can shoot, run the floor, and play with a rare level of poise for someone his age. He’ll likely be an immediate starter for UConn and will be asked to contribute immediately. Tarris Reed joins from Michigan to provide some beef into the frontcourt as a skilled big, and Ahmad Nowell joins as a top-5o freshman in the country.

UConn Huskies Prediction

First Place in the Big East | Final Four

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