How Michigan, UConn built rosters to reach the 2026 NCAA national championship game
Not all rosters are created equal in the NIL era, and the national title game is a perfect example of just that
INDIANAPOLIS -- During the 2024 offseason, UConn star Alex Karaban needed to make a decision. As a projected late first-round pick in the NBA Draft, it would've been easy for Karaban to leave after winning back-to-back titles as a starter at UConn. It was also at this time that Dan Hurley was mulling over taking the Los Angeles Lakers head coaching job.
Karaban's decision to stay and Hurley's subsequent commitment to the program are why UConn is on the verge of an American sports dynasty. The Huskies will play for their third national title in four years on Monday against No. 1 seed Michigan, aiming to accomplish something last done by UCLA in the 1970s.
Karaban is a rare breed in the modern era of the sport as someone who didn't leave early for the draft or enter the transfer portal. That continuity is consistent with UConn's rotation, with six of its top nine scorers being homegrown players.
"I never considered the portal," Karaban said. "You win and start on two national championship teams your freshman and sophomore years, it's going to be tough going into the office being like 'coach, I want to leave.' I never considered the portal. It was more so whether I wanted to go to the NBA or not. Those were the tough decisions I needed to make. ... At the end of the day, I wanted to see how my college career played out and not leave what-ifs or question marks. I have no regrets with any decisions I made."
The nucleus of this UConn roster has revolved around Karaban. Even with the massive turnover UConn has had year-to-year since its first national title win under Hurley in 2023, he has still managed to create a roster capable of winning six consecutive games when it matters most.
While UConn has relied on a senior leader, Michigan has used a mix of the transfer portal and players who played under the previous coach, Juwan Howard, to reach the national title game for the first time since 2018.
All five of Michigan's starters are transfers, including Nimari Burnett. Burnett stayed through the coaching change when Michigan hired Dusty May during the 2024 offseason. It was during the same time period that Hurley and Karaban contemplated leaving.
After stops at Alabama and Texas Tech, Burnett has found a home at Michigan. He was teammates with Will Tschetter during the 2023-24 season, which was the final year of Howard's tenure at Michigan. Both players stayed through the coaching change and have seen the roster go from eight wins during that season to 40 minutes away from winning the title.
"I remember when Dusty came in, (Will) had talked to Dusty first," Burnett said earlier this week. "I remember saying, what do you think about him? And he said he was a great dude, and he's going to be huge for us, and you should stay. I talked to (Dusty), but I trusted (Will)."
Not all rosters are created equal in college basketball, especially during the NIL era. Whether your team is loaded with transfers, freshmen, or returning players, finding the perfect blend to reach the final night of the college basketball season has become an imperfect science.
Michigan and UConn have built rosters that have been good enough to win five straight games in the NCAA Tournament. But only one can take the crown as college basketball's national champion.
Here is how each roster was built in the new era of college basketball.
How UConn built its roster
Starters: Solo Ball (four-star recruit), Silas Demary Jr. (transfer from Georgia), Alex Karaban (four-star recruit), Braylon Mullins (former five-star recruit) and Tarris Reed Jr. (transfer from Michigan).
Key bench players: Eric Reibe (four-star recruit), Jayden Ross (four-star recruit), Jaylin Stewart (four-star recruit) and Malachi Smith (transfer from Dayton).
Hurley has done a terrific job identifying talent to continue success year-over-year. On UConn's last title team in 2024, the Huskies had a star freshman (Stephon Castle) on the roster. This year, the star first-year player has been Mullins, who has gone from key starter to a legend in Storrs after hitting one of the greatest shots in college basketball history against Duke in the Elite Eight.
Outside of Karaban, the most important player on this roster has been Reed. Ironically, he was teammates with Burnett and Tschetter for one season at Michigan before transferring. Reed has gone from star to one of the best bigs in the country during UConn's NCAA Tournament run. Reed, Smith and Demary are transfers, but the rest of the roster are homegrown talents.
How Michigan built its roster
Starters: Nimari Burnett (transfer from Alabama), Elliot Cadeau (transfer from North Carolina), Morez Johnson Jr. (transfer from Illinois), Yaxel Lendeborg (transfer from UAB) and Aday Mara (transfer from UCLA).
Key bench players: Trey McKenney (four-star recruit), Roddy Gayle Jr. (transfer from Ohio State) and Will Tschetter (three-star recruit).
May had a plan last season during Year 1 of his tenure at Michigan to build the roster around two 7-footers (Vlad Goldin and Danny Wolf). That supersized frontcourt strategy has carried over to this season, with an even bigger frontcourt of Johnson, Mara and Lendeborg. All three of those players are somewhat unconventional. Before Lendeborg was a star at UAB, he was a junior college player, while Mara played inconsistent minutes at UCLA the previous seasons. Even Michigan's backcourt has had quite the path to this point. Burnett is in his sixth year of college, and Cadeau, a former five-star recruit, was looking for a fresh start after spending the last two years at North Carolina.
Michigan guard LJ Cason, a homegrown player from Michigan's 2025 recruiting class, suffered a torn ACL earlier this season. He was one of three players who began their respective careers with the Wolverines. The rest are transfers. Three of Michigan's transfers (Johnson, Gayle, and Mara) are from the Big Ten ranks. Intraconference transfers were once frowned upon, but have become more common in the new transfer portal era.
