College basketball got two pieces of good news on Tuesday. The first was the decision of UConn senior forward Alex Karaban to return to Storrs for his final season. Karaban entered the NBA Draft last year and took his decision right up until the withdrawal deadline. He opted to come back. He had a good season, but perhaps not the one that many had predicted. This time, he’s not even bothering to go through the draft process. So Karaban will be balling for Dan Hurley next season.

We all know Karaban isn’t just coming back to UConn he loves the school and wants to win another NCAA Championship (though I have no doubt that he does). He came back because the school can pay him good money, probably more than he would make as a second-round draft pick or free agent. This is the new math in college basketball, and for all the hand wringing and pearl clutching about the chaos of NIL and the transfer portal, let’s not lose sight of the fact that college basketball is now able to attract and retain talent at a level it would not otherwise if it weren’t for those almighty dollars.

ESPN draft maven Jonathan Givony reported that 106 players entered the NBA Draft before their college eligibility expired. That’s down from a peak of 363 just four years ago. And that’s not to mention the scores of incoming freshmen who might otherwise be tempted to find other professional options. One of those previous options, the NBA G League’s Ignite program, attracted some high-end candidates (like Jalen Green and the Thompson twins), but has since ceased to operate as college sports moved to a modern pay-for-play model.

This one more reminder that for all the uncertainty, college basketball is actually as healthy as it has ever been. It will take some time for the new system to be put in place, but as long as the best players want to be in college, the future will remain bright.

Have a great Tuesday, and thanks as always for your support of Hoops HQ. — Seth

Book Excerpt: Inside the College Basketball Careers of the Van Gundy Brothers

By Ben Kaplan and Danny Parkins

Stan Van Gundy remembers receiving the phone call from Orlando Magic general manager Otis Smith that fateful morning in the summer of 2011. “You’re on SportsCenter,” Smith told Van Gundy, the Magic head coach. “I don’t know how the hell they got it.”

In the video, the mustachioed Van Gundy, wearing glasses, a long-sleeved gray shirt, and some striped blue shorts, calls for a ball. While encouraging campers to experiment with different dribbling combinations, he walks on to the empty court and unleashes a through-the-legs-behind-the-back combo followed by a crisp spin move and between the legs crossover. People in the audience gasp.

Bloggers and the nascent NBA Twitter community swarmed to the 15-second clip like ants on a dropped lollipop. The spirit behind the video’s viral popularity made it abundantly clear: nobody expected the 50-some-odd-year-old coach to have handles like that. “People look at me: short, fat guy coaching, and just assume I could never do anything,” Van Gundy said. “The bar was low. So the fact that you can get the ball from one hand to the other, people were even surprised by that.”

Stan’s younger brother, Jeff, also a former NBA coach, claims to have shared his brother’s ability to dazzle on the court — as long as nobody was actually guarding him. “When I was doing individual workouts, I could beat the cones on the court off the dribble every time,” Jeff told Dan Patrick for a 2015 column in Sports Illustrated. “It was those darn other players that got in the way of my greatness.”

Self-deprecating comments aside, the Van Gundy brothers were once accomplished collegiate players. Stan, who originally committed to Division II UC-Davis, had a change of heart when his dad took the head coaching job at Brockport State, a Division III public college just outside of Rochester, New York. With his parents and brother set to move from their Bay Area home, Stan decided at the last minute to tag along and enroll at Brockport State. Since his dad was the coach, he knew two things — he would have a spot on the team, and the coach would be really tough on him.

Standing just 5’7” and rail thin, Stan never missed a single game in his four years at Brockport St. He didn’t shoot much, but when he did...

Top High School Recruits Make Their Case at Nike Showcase in Arizona

By Kristen Peek

MESA, AZ – Some of the top teams in AAU basketball traveled to Arizona last weekend for the first session of Nike’s EYBL season. The consensus No. 1 and No. 2 players in the 2026 high school class, Tyran Stokes and Brandon McCoy, did not participate. Stokes is reportedly sitting out this AAU season but McCoy is expected to compete in later sessions.

There were at least two scouts from all 30 NBA teams on hand to evaluate players at the 15, 16 and 17-under division.

The live period for college coaches starts May 16, just in time for Session 2 of the EYBL in Memphis, Tennessee. Here’s a look at 10 top performers from the Arizona event.

JASON CROWE JR., 6-FOOT-3 GUARD, OAKLAND SOLDIER
CLASS OF 2026

Crowe, a 6-foot-3 point guard, was the best scorer on the court during the first session. The lefty guard got to his spots with ease and finished through contact at the rim. Although he still favors attacking the left side of the floor, he did show some promising signs finishing with both hands during a close 85-82 win over AZ Unity Saturday afternoon. Crowe averaged 25.3 points, 4.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game as the Oakland Soldiers won all three of their games. Although Crow is a high-volume shooter, his instincts as a lead guard are elite and his shot selection will likely improve. UCLA, Alabama, Villanova, Miami, USC, Kentucky and others have all offered the five-star guard.

CHRISTIAN COLLINS, 6-FOOT-8 FORWARD, TEAM WHY NOT
CLASS OF 2026

Collins was a must-watch for the NBA scouts. His combination of size, length and skill makes him an intriguing prospect in the 2026 high school class. He has been one of the biggest risers in high school basketball from last year...

‍