Nikolas Khamenia (hah-MEN-yuh) committed today to the UConn men’s basketball team after visiting the campus on Wednesday. The 6’ 8” freshman forward was a former top recruit. He ranked #15 in 247 Sports high school ranking and #19 in their composite rankings. The Duke transfer started a few games and was a key member of the rotation for last season’s overall #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
Read our Portal Prospect Profile on Khamenia.
Alex Karaban’s graduation has opened up a spot in the starting lineup and a lot of minutes for a big forward. Braylon Mullins is also mulling an NBA draft stay-or-go decision, and as of now we have not received word whether Jaylin Stewart is returning to the team next season. Grabbing a big forward was a high priority for the Huskies.
Khamenia averaged 5.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assist in 19.8 minutes mostly off the bench for the Blue Devils. He shot 34% from three on around 3 attempts per game for the season. He scored 7 points on 4 shots with 2 rebounds and an assist against the Huskies in the Elite Eight last month. He scored a season high 14 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and added an assist in a win over Clemson in the semi-finals of the ACC tournament.
Nik played high school basketball at Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, winning two state championships. His parents are from Belarus, and his dad is a former professional basketball player, now junior college coach in LA. Nik has won 3 gold medals playing for Team USA, including last summer’s FIBA U-19 World Cup, and an MVP performance at the 2024 U-18 3x3 World Cup.
