UConn Sports Weekly: NFL Draft down, NBA Draft to go

Roster moves in college and the pros across Husky nation.

Author

Aman Kidwai
May 04, 2026

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Headlines

Bell becomes a Bill

The NFL Draft came and went with two former Huskies selected and many others signing undrafted free-agent deals or mini-camp invites.

Skyler Bell went in the fourth round to the Buffalo Bills, where he will soon be catching passes from NFL MVP Josh Allen. It seems like a great situation for the Husky star and Bronx native, on a successful team that’s desperate for playmaking pass-catchers. He’ll also join former teammate Chase Lundt, who was drafted in the 6th round out of UConn last year.

Steve Smith, a player Bell has compared his game to, said Bell was his favorite receiver prospect in the draft.

Fagnano did not hear his name called after seven rounds, but did receive a rookie camp invitation and eventually signed as an undrafted free agent with the Baltimore Ravens. 

Justin Joly, after transferring to NC State from UConn, heads to the Denver Broncos after going in the fifth round.

Also receiving invitations to camps across the league were: K Chris Freeman (Houston Texans), TE Louis Hansen, P Connor Stutz, and LB Donovan Branch, all with the Kansas City Chiefs. CB Devin Pringle will head to the Chicago Bears mini-camp after spending his final collegiate season with the Huskies.  

Back in Storrs, reports emerged of a renewed rivalry between UConn and Rutgers, who are set to play a home-and-home series in 2028 and 2029. The two teams have not played since 2013 despite their close geographic proximity. 

UConn also recently secured commitments from Mason Howard and Jalen Brown. Howard, an offensive lineman from Virginia, has played at both Old Dominion and Wofford and joins the Huskies with two years of eligibility. Brown, a sophomore, played one season at JUCO — City College of San Francisco — and picked the Huskies over Louisiana Tech and Auburn. 

UConn vs. Duke in Las Vegas? Sure

The UConn men’s basketball team has wrapped up its work in the transfer portal, bringing in its fourth commit in former UCF and Wofford guard Nils Machowski to bolster its depth in the backcourt. Brian Kervick details what to expect from Machowski on the court in a breakdown of his time with Wofford. 

Machowski, who has just one year of eligibility remaining, joins Oskar Gitlay, Najai Hines, and Nik Khamenia in UConn’s transfer class for next season. The Huskies have four more scholarship openings for next season, if they choose to use them. 

Jaylin Stewart has picked his new home — he’ll be heading to the ACC to join SMU. He should be line for a more prominent role on the Mustangs as they look to make the new 76-team field. It was an eight-bid league last year, after all.

The Huskies are early favorites to remain among the nationally prominent next season, especially with all of the talent and depth returning alongside the transfer additions.

Dan Hurley will make sure next year’s team is tested early. On Wednesday, the program announced an Elite Eight rematch with Duke set to take place in November. In addition to meetings with Illinois and Arizona, other marquee matchups are expected to be added.

We recently heard from Silas Demary Jr., Braylon Mullins, Solo Ball, and Jacob and Jayden Ross here.

Among the outbound Huskies, Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban have been invited to the NBA Combine. Both are viewed as second-round prospects, on the fringe of the first-round discussion. The draft takes place on June 23-24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Liam McNeeley was the lone Husky drafted in 2025, while four were picked in 2024 (Castle, Clingan, Spencer, Newton) and two in 2023 (Hawkins, Jackson). Overall, Dan Hurley has coached nine NBA Draft picks at UConn, starting with James Bouknight, who was the first Husky drafted in five years in 2021.

We hired one colleague for every department.

Last Tuesday, marketing asked Viktor to write the weekly campaign recap, pull performance from Google Ads and Meta, and format it as a PDF for the exec team. Done in four minutes.

That same afternoon, engineering asked Viktor to review three open pull requests on GitHub, cross-reference with the Linear sprint board, and flag anything blocking the release. Posted to private channel before standup.

At 9pm, ops asked Viktor to draft a vendor contract summary from three Notion docs and send it to the team. It was in #ops by morning.

None of them knew the others were using it.

Same colleague. Three departments. That's what changes when your AI coworker lives in Slack, where your whole company already works. It's not a tool one person logs into. It's a teammate everyone messages.

5,700+ teams. SOC 2 certified. Your data never trains models.

"Viktor is now an integral team member, and after weeks of use we still feel we haven't uncovered the full potential." - Patrick O'Doherty, Director, Yarra Web


Penders earns win no. 800

Jim Penders’ team continues to roll through conference play, collecting its first sweep of the Big East slate in a three-game drubbing of Georgetown last weekend. The Huskies bashed 10 home runs across Friday and Saturday, outscoring the Hoyas by a combined 30 runs over the two games, and then collected the sweep Sunday with a come-from-behind 3-2 win.

On Tuesday, the team collected its sixth consecutive win by toppling Rutgers on the road.

Over the weekend, the Huskies lost the first two out of three to ETSU, ending the six-game winning streak, before winning the third game on Sunday off a grand slam from Jackson Marshall. The sophomore slugger knocked his 13th home run of the season in the 6th inning on Sunday to make it a 4-2 lead that the bullpen closed, 4-3.

That victory pushed head coach Jim Penders to win no. 800 in his career. On a campus that has seen coaching legends roll through in many sports, nobody is pulling off more miracles than Penders in Storrs.

They play their first month of the season on the road, they’re indoors most of the offseason, and recruits prefer to play under different circumstances. The NCAA Tournament appearances, Big East dominance, and presence in the pros should be a tremendous source of pride for Husky fans and the local baseball community.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Basketball

Castle and Spurs knock out Clingan and Trail Blazers; Fagnano Signs with Ravens – A look at the latest of the Huskies in the pros, including one former Hurley product sending another home in the NBA playoffs  

Stanford transfer Oskar Gitlay commits to UConn – The Huskies found their platoon man alongside Najai Hines. 

Women’s Basketball

Mailbag: Will UConn dip into the transfer portal this offseason ($) – Answering fan questions about the direction Geno Auriemma’s squad is heading in. 

The Weekly: Ice Brady transfers to Florida State, to miss the entire 2026-27 season – Plus, the Golden State Valkyries waived Caroline Ducharme. 

Softball

Lacrosse 

Hockey

Podcast: Season recap ($) – Daniel Connolly evaluates the 2025-26 men’s team and the program’s next steps. 

UConn adds defenseman Charlie Morrison to 2026-27 roster – The QMJHL product rounds out the team’s defensive corps. 

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