Two of last year's Final Four teams are returning key pieces for next season.
UConn forward Alex Karaban is heading back to campus for a try at a third straight national title and Alabama guard Mark Sears also will be back after withdrawing from the NBA draft Wednesday.
The 6-foot-8 third-year sophomore has started in 77 of his 78 games since joining the Huskies. He averaged 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds last season as UConn went 37-3 and became the first team with consecutive NCAA Tournament titles since Florida in 2006 and 2007.
No program has won three in a row since UCLA won seven straight from 1967-73.
''While I've enjoyed the draft process, Storrs is home,'' Karaban, from Southborough, Massachusetts, posted on social media. ''Let's run it back!''
Sears was a second-team AP All-American last season after becoming the first Division I player in the last 31 seasons to have 795 points, 150 rebounds, 145 assists and 95 three-pointers in a season. The 6-1 guard was a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award as the nation's top point guard following a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Sears averaged 24.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game during the NCAA Tournament while helping lead the Crimson Tide to the Final Four for the first time.
Sears announced his decision on social media with a post saying: ''last dance #rolltide.''
