UConn's 2026 Final Four run has been a special month for forward Alex Karaban, who seeks his third national title in his four-year career. As one of Dan Hurley's first big-name high school recruits, Karaban's March Madness success is already nearly unprecedented.

With UConn's miraculous Elite Eight win over Duke, the Huskies are now 17-1 in March Madness with Karaban on the floor. Karaban has started each game, making his 17 NCAA Tournament victories as a starter the third-most by any player of all-time, according to SLAM University.

Karaban also has more wins in the prestigious tournament by himself than several premier programs, including Arizona State, Vanderbilt, Seton Hall and Miami, among others, per ‘No Escalators' on X, formerly Twitter.

Karaban's 17 wins currently trail only Duke legends Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley, the latter being the brother of his head coach. UConn does not have enough time for him to catch Laettner, but a win over Illinois in the Final Four would allow Karaban to tie Hurley for second.

Karaban could have entered the 2025 NBA Draft, where he was projected to be a potential late-first-round pick, but he opted to return to Storrs for his final year of eligibility to chase another national title. In doing so, he has already made history and continues growing his legacy as one of UConn's all-time greats.

Despite struggling at the end of the regular season and in the Big East Tournament, Karaban has been UConn's driving force in his third and final deep March Madness run. The 6-foot-8 sniper is averaging 17.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game while shooting 38.7 percent from three-point range in the Huskies' last four games, which included a career-high 27-point outburst against UCLA in the Round of 32.