Boston Celtics
Alex Karaban’s pre-draft workout for Boston reportedly will take place next week.
Alex Karaban is a Southborough native. Patrick Smith/Getty Images
May 23, 2026 | 5:38 PM
2 minutes to read
The Boston Celtics are adding prospect workouts to their schedule with one month to go before the 2026 NBA Draft.
One name reportedly on their pre-draft workout list should ring a bell for New Englanders.
The Celtics plan to work out University of Connecticut basketball star forward Alex Karaban, according to David Borges of CT Insider. The workout reportedly will take place next week.
Karaban is ranked No. 32 on ESPN’s top 100 draft prospects list. Boston possesses the No. 27 overall pick (first round) and the No. 40 pick (second round).
Karaban, who grew up in Southborough, won two NCAA championships at UConn (2023 and ‘24) and was named to the All-Big East First-team last season.
He played all four years of his collegiate career in Storrs, Conn., and was an integral part of the Huskies’ recent success under head coach Dan Hurley. Karaban, 23, leaves UConn as one of the winningest Huskies of all time.
Across 151 games, Karaban averaged 12.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. He finished his college career with a 46.8 field goal percentage, 37.4 three-point percentage, and 84.4 free throw percentage.
Karaban’s 1,880 points place him sixth all-time among UConn men’s players. He is the winningest player in program history with 126 victories. He is also the all-time leader in games played, starts (150), minutes played (4,906), and three-pointers made (292).
This past season, in which the Huskies won the Big East and competed in the National Championship game against Michigan, Karaban was the only player to start all 40 games.
Hurley has long praised Karaban during the player’s tenure, even calling him one of the program’s greatest players in history.
“He’s one of the greatest players that’s worn the uniform,” Hurley said of Karaban on senior day this past season. “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 consulted Karaban when contemplating whether or not to take the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job in 2024.
After falling to the Wolverines in the title game, Hurley expressed his gratitude to have coached Karaban for four years.
“This guy changed my life [and] the staff’s lives,” Hurley said. “The joy he [has] brought to the university, the fan base, his decision to come to UConn. … He [has] helped make UConn, I think right now, probably the premier program in college basketball, having been to three out of four national championship games [and] having won two of them. He’s put UConn in that rarefied place in college basketball. Everyone owes everything to that guy.”
Kaley Brown
Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.
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