KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The UConn men’s basketball backcourt earned major national recognition Thursday, as guard Silas Demary Jr. and wing Braylon Mullins were both named to the 20-player Preseason Watch List for the 2027 NABC Division I Player of the Year award.
The National Association of Basketball Coaches announced the 20-man group, positioning the Huskies alongside Duke and Florida as the only programs in the country to boast multiple selections.
Selected exclusively through a nationwide vote of Division I head coaches, the NABC Player of the Year has been awarded annually since the 1974–75 season and remains the only major national player of the year honor voted on directly by active coaches. The 2027 recipient will be announced the week of the Final Four following the conclusion of the regular season.
For Demary, the inclusion is the latest in an offseason full of accolades. The 6-foot-4 lead guard was recently tabbed the BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year and earned Preseason All-America nods from CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated,The Athletic, and The Field of 68. During his debut campaign in Storrs in 2025–26, Demary orchestrated the Huskies' offense to the tune of 10.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and a conference-leading 5.9 assists per game. Beyond his playmaking,Demary's relentless on-ball pressure and high-level defensive IQ transformed Connecticut’s perimeter defense,catapulting a unit ranked outside the top 70 the year prior into a consensus top-10 defensive outfit nationally.
Mullins, meanwhile, steps into his sophomore season after a breakout freshman campaign that established him as one of college basketball’s premier perimeter threats. Named a Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST selection and a First Team All-American by Blue Ribbon Yearbook, the 6-foot-6 native of Indiana earned unanimous BIG EAST All-Freshman honors in 2025–26. Mullins started 29 games as a rookie, posting 12.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.0 steals per contest while drilling 72 three-pointers—the second-highest single-season total by a freshman in UConn program history.
With two proven focal points sharing the backcourt, the Huskies head into the 2026–27 campaign as one of the country's most heavily scrutinized title contenders.
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