Alex Oriakhi is in his freshman year as a Forward/Center for the UConn Huskies. It was on his fifth birthday that his mother bought him his first basketball. “I’ve been playing ever since. I just watched basketball, and fell in love with it.”

“Winning a high school championship at Tilton Prep School in New Hampshire with my teammate Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (also a UConn freshman) has been my most memorable experience so far.” Alex and Jamal have played on the same Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, have been roommates and played at prep school together for three years, and now they’ll be roommates playing at UConn together.

In making his decision to come to UConn, it was all about location. “My parents live in Massachusetts only 1 ½ hours away so they can come to UConn anytime. Coach Calhoun is a really a great coach with his big men, and the number of players that get drafted into the National Basketball Association (NBA) from UConn, were both big factors for me.” Alex and Jamal are the youngest players during the Coach Calhoun era to have made their college commitment to UConn prior to starting their sophomore year in high school.

When asked how has the transition from high school to college has been Alex said, “Well I’m not the biggest guy anymore. I’m probably the smallest out of all the big men on this team.” He’s realizing that at the college level the players are bigger, stronger and more physical. “Every night you definitely have to give it your all because everybody you play with or against will be at least as big and strong as you.”

Alex said the teams will to win will bring them back to the Final Four again this year. “We’ve got to defend night in and night out and everything will take care of itself.”