r/UConnBasketball

Mostly a discussion of how Reed & Castle fit on the Spurs.

That is all!

A Sacramento reporter asks Hurley about Karaban; unsurprisingly Hurley has lots of good things to say.

Despite some solid Big East rivalries, being an FBS school outside of an FBS conference isn't optimal. This legislation would essentially lock UConn into this situation.

I have a few thoughts on this:

1. It seems kind of late in the game for Congress to suddenly want to preserve the status quo, after the Original Big East and PAC-12 were plundered, and many conferences have lost many traditional rivalries and their geographical footprints.
2. It's a little questionable whether legislating college athletic conference alignment is a great idea. Sometimes changes are for the good; presumably now it would take an act of Congress for any changes to occur.
3. On the other hand, if the NCAA itself tried to impose any rules: 1) They'd probably be heavily influenced by whatever the Big 10 and SEC wants them to do, and 2) The rules might not withstand court challenges.

So happy for him. Made all the right choices and it paid off.

Two more 1st round picks (albeit late) is a good look for the program and good news for the players.

Thoughts?

At the end of this article, I suspect there's some survivor bias in these comparisons, with Reed being compared to similarly-sized players worth remembering. Furthermore (as the article itself admits) he's mostly being compared to players who were 5-star prospects while Reed himself was "only" a 4-star.

Having said that, Reed has good size, solid skills, and was probably the Husky that opponents struggled the most to game-plan against. He also got a lot better by the end of his 2 years at UConn, and it's unclear how close he is to his ceiling. His success at the next level may depend on the situation he walks into.

Some notes

1. I consider starting the finals to mean that the player started game 1 of the finals. It's not starting in the finals, it's starting the finals.
2. Before 1969, it becomes less clear who started each series, so I did my best to research old footage. Basketball Reference just lists the players and time played. I tried to find newspaper articles, pictures, and videos, but there are probably errors.
3. Based on my findings, 5 starters from the same conference is the record, with 4 players in the same conference only happening 3 times.

Times a Conference had the most players:

Pac-12/Pac-10/Pac-8/Pacific Coast Conference: 33

Big Ten: 16

SEC: 16

ACC: 15

West Coast Conference/West Coast Athletic Conference/California Basketball Association: 8

Big East: 5

Big Eight: 5

Metropolitan New York Conference: 5

Missouri Valley Conference: 5

BIG 12: 4

Ivy League: 4

Southern: 4

Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association: 3

Sun Belt: 3

Mid-American Conference: 2

Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: 2

Mountain States Athletic Conference: 2

Western Athletic Conference: 2

A-10: 1

Big State Conference (NAIA): 1

Big West: 1

College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (D3): 1

Conference USA: 1

Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference (NAIA): 1

Mason Dixon(D2): 1

Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association: 1

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference: 1

Mid-Continent (Now Summit League): 1

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference: 1

Southland: 1

Southwest Conference: 1

Southwest Athletic Conference: 1

Wisconsin State University Conference (D3): 1

Year	Conference	Starters
2026	Big East	5
2025	SEC/WCC	3
2024	PAC12/SEC	3
2023	SEC	4
2022	PAC12	3
2021	PAC12	3
2020	SEC	3
2019	PAC12(10)	3
2018	PAC12(10)	3
2017	BIG12/PAC12(10)	2
2016	ACC/PAC12(10)	2
2015	ACC	3
2014	ACC	3
2013	ACC	3
2012	BIG12	2
2011	PAC10*	2*
2010	Big East	2
2009	Sun Belt	2
2008	A-10/BIG12/Big East/SEC/Sun Belt	1
2007	ACC/Big Ten/BIG12/Big West/CUSA	1
2006	SEC	4
2005	ACC/SEC	2
2004	SEC	2
2003	PAC10	3
2002	PAC10/SEC	2
2001	ACC/Big East/SEC	2
2000	Big Ten/PAC10	2
1999	ACC/SEC	2
1998	WAC	2
1997	BIG8	2
1996	PAC10	2
1995	ACC	3
1994	Big East	3
1993	ACC	2
1992	ACC	3
1991	ACC	4
1990	ACC/BIG8/Big Ten/Independent(D1)/Mason-Dixon(D2)/Mid-Continent/OIC(NAIA)/PAC8/Southland/WSUC(D3)	1
1989	ACC/Big Ten	2
1988	PAC10(8)	3
1987	PAC10(8)	3
1986	MVC	2
1985	Big Ten/PAC10(8)/WCAC	2
1984	ACC/WCAC	2
1983	PAC8	2
1982	PAC8	2
1981	Big State Conference (NAIA)/Independent/MVC/Sun Belt/WAC	1
1980	PAC8	2
1979	PAC8	2
1978	Big Ten/CCIW(D3)/CIAA(D2)/Independent/MEAC/MVC/PAC8/SEC/WCAC	1
1977	PAC8	2
1976	BIG8	3
1975	PAC8	3
1974	Big Ten	2
1973	Ivy/PAC8	2
1972	Ivy	2
1971	MVC	2
1970	BIG8/Independent/Ivy/PAC8/Southern/SWAC	1
1969	Big Ten	2
1968	Big Ten	3
1967	MAC	2
1966	Big Ten/CBA	2
1965	CBA	2
1964	BIG8/CBA/CIAA	2
1963	CBA/CIAA/Independent/Ivy/Metro NY/MVC/Southern	1**
1962	Southern	2**
1961	SEC	2**
1960	PCC/SEC	2**
1959	Big Ten/PCC	2**
1958	SEC	3**
1957	PCC	2**
1956	Big Ten/Independent/MSAC/PCC/Southern	1***
1955	Big Ten/PCC	2
1954	Big Ten	2
1953	Independent/Metro NY/MIAC/MIAA/PCC/SIAC/SWC	1
1952	Metro NY	2
1951	Metro NY	2
1950	Big Ten/Independent/MAC/Metro NY/MIAC/MSAC/PCC	text
1949	Big Ten	3
1948	Big Ten	2
1947	PCC	2

*Shawn Marion played in the WAC for UNLV, and Joel Anthony played in the MWC there.

**Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn were both on Holy Cross together as independents

***Jack George, Tom Gola, and Larry Foust were all independent at La Salle. If these 3 truly started (which I believe they did, but this was difficult to determine), I believe this is the last time since the current Knicks that 3 players on the same college team started an NBA finals.