NORTHBOROUGH – Two-time NCAA champion and Southborough native Alex Karaban returned to his old stomping grounds on Aug. 11 to coach hundreds of local children during a five-hour basketball camp at Algonquin Regional High School, where he started his basketball career.
“It means everything to me [to be here]. Growing up, I always went to the Algonquin camps, and I always wanted to do something like this – giving back to the community, giving back to kids in this area of Massachusetts and Connecticut. It means a lot to me, I’m super passionate about being here, and I’m excited to try to change somebody’s life,” Karaban told the Community Advocate.
Camp attendees had the opportunity to take a photo with Karaban, receive a limited-edition camp T-shirt, and, of course, go home with Karaban’s autograph. That’s on top of leaving the camp with pointers from Karaban – and a staff of coaches made up of current and former Algonquin basketball players – on how to improve their game.
Karaban attended Algonquin for his freshman year, then transferred to New Hampton School in New Hampshire, where he was named 2020-2021 Gatorade New Hampshire Player of the Year.
A consensus top 50 recruit, Karaban attended IMG Academy in Florida for one semester before enrolling at the University of Connecticut, where he won the NCAA national championship in both 2023 and 2024.
As dominant as Karaban is on the court, coaches say he’s an even better person.
“He’s one of the most coachable, nicest kids I’ve ever met. He actually wanted to come back to this community to work with the kids. I’ve run clinics throughout the summer for the last 10 years, and he’s always been around to help out. Now that he can actually do it on his own, he put this together and I was like, ‘Good for you, Alex.’ He’s been a role model,” said Brian Doherty, who coached Karaban during his one season at Algonquin.