UConn has secured its new center rotation, following the exit of Tarris Reed Jr. (graduating), Eric Reibe (transferred to USC) and Rrezon Elezaj (in the transfer portal).
Oskar Giltay, a rising sophomore from Stanford, committed to the Huskies on Friday and will likely fill in the shoes left behind by Reibe, backing up former Seton Hall Pirate Najai Hines.
Standing at 6-foot-10, Giltay averaged 3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks while shooting 62.7% from the field and 57.5% from the free-throw line in just 14.6 minutes per game last season for the Cardinal, playing in 32 contests, starting five times.
His two best performances came early on in Stanford’s 2025-26 campaign.
He only hit the double-figure scoring mark once, scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds, along with three steals on 5-of-5 shooting in 21 minutes in a 94-72 win over Portland.
He followed that with a 9-point, 14-rebound, 2-block and 2-steal performance on 4-of-6 shooting in 23 minutes in the 75-74 loss to UNLV.
At Stanford, Giltay had four 10+ rebound games, including the UNLV game as well as three times in ACC play (losses to Notre Dame (11) and Clemson (11), win at Virginia Tech (13)).
With a bump in minutes expected in his new home, his numbers should be up to the standard that the predecessors in the backup center position have set. After all, he averaged 11 rebounds per 40 minutes, close to what Reed averaged as a starter during his senior campaign.
He is considered an elite offensive rebounder and around-the-rim defender, with a 13.2% offensive rebounding rate — including a 9.7% mark during ACC play (20th in the conference) — and a 9.2% block rate during his first season of college basketball.
According to Bart Torvik, Giltay is one of 17 freshmen ever to have an offensive rebounding rate greater than or equal to 10%, a defensive rebounding rate of at least 20%, a block rate of at least 8% and a steal rate of at least 2%. Some notable freshmen who accomplished this feat include Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid and Nerlens Noel. Not bad competition to be around.
He was one of four players last season, which includes his new teammate in Hines, to have an offensive rebounding rate of at least 10%, a defensive rebounding rate of at least 19%, a block rate of at least 9% and a defensive box plus/minus (DBPM) of at least 3.5. The other two players were Michigan’s Aday Mara and Stephen F. Austin’s Jerald Colonel.
His offensive game is very raw, but his presence on the other end should help the Huskies become one of the best interior defensive teams in the country. CT Insider’s David Borges said that Giltay “is the type of bouncy rim-protector the Huskies had when Samson Johnson was backing up Donovan Clingan on the 2024 national championship team.”
Before coming to the United States to play college basketball in the ACC at Stanford, Giltay played for Hubo Limburg United in the BNXT League, which is the top division in Belgium and the Netherlands, leading the team to the semifinals of the Belgian national playoffs in 2025. While playing for them, he averaged 6.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.6 blocks per game in 15.8 minutes during the 2025 season. The Bilzen, Belgium native averaged 10 points and 6.4 rebound a contest at FIBA U18 EuroBasket, with his 3.1 blocks per game leading the entire tournament.
Giltay visited Storrs on Wednesday after visiting Saint Louis on Tuesday.
The Huskies now have five scholarship spots remaining, with a visit with Wofford combo guard Nils Machowski completed on Saturday. Connecticut will also look at rotational power forwards as well as other guards before filling out the rest of the roster with depth pieces.