The Huskies are not done yet as UConn landed a portal commitment from Wofford transfer Nils Machowski on Tuesday.
A rising junior from Berlin, Germany, Machowski was one of the starting guards at Wofford, where he played just one year after playing his first two seasons at UCF. With the Terriers, he drastically improved his numbers to 17.2 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 33.7 minutes per game while shooting 43.3% from the field, 38.2% from 3-point range and 79% from the free throw line.
Once Solo Ball announced his decision to use a medical redshirt, adding more depth to the backcourt became a massive need for the Huskies.
Machowski will likely serve as a backup combo guard role for the national runners-up, with Silas Demary Jr. and Braylon Mullins set up to be the starting backcourt for the 2026-27 season.
Before his breakout season in Spartanburg, S.C., Machowski started nine games at UCF (seven of which came with a knee injury to Mikey Williams), averaging 2.9 points, 1.7 rebounds and 0.8 assists on 11 minutes per contest with shooting splits of 39.6% from the floor, 32.9% from deep and 78.9% from the charity stripe.
Wofford went 19-13 overall and 11-7 in the Southern Conference (SoCon), with Machowski listed as a “major contributor” on KenPom, meaning that he was used in 24-28% of the team’s possessions.
He was the team’s best player numerous times throughout the season. The first instance was a 28-point outing in a 94-86 win at Bellarmine, knocking down four 3-pointers. His 27 points proved to be massive for the Terriers in a 79-74 win at Western Carolina. He followed that game with a career-high 37 points on 12-of-17 shooting, including an 8-of-11 mark from downtown, in a 95-86 win at The Citadel, also grabbing seven rebounds.
The latter two performances helped him become the first player in program history to be named the Lou Henson National Player of the Week by Collegeinsider.com, earning the honor on Jan. 5.
Standing at 6-foot-3, 183 pounds, Machowski recorded five double-doubles and only failed to score double figures three times out of the 32 games he appeared in. He scored 20 points or more in 10 games while reaching 30 or more three times this season.
His performance last season was sufficient enough for him to be named to the All-SoCon second team. He scored 551 points, more than anyone on the roster and accounting for 21.8% of the team’s points.
Machowski played for Germany’s youth national team in both the 2022 U18 European Championship and 2024 U20 EuroBasket, but his most notable accomplishment overseas were back-to-back championships with Alba Berlin’s U19 team in 2022 and 2023, hitting a buzzer-beater in the latter’s title game.
It will be quite a transition from the SoCon to the Big East, but Machowski’s experience in his two seasons at UCF helped with playing in the Big 12 and playing meaningful minutes in the Knights’ run to the College Basketball Crown’s championship game. Since transferring to Wofford, Machowski has only faced one major-conference opponent: at Auburn on Nov. 11. That game was one of the lowlights of a huge season for him, finishing with 5 point and five assists on 2-of-8 shooting.
The last two players that played for Alba Berlin won national championships with the Huskies: Niels Giffey and Leon Tolksdorf.
The Huskies are reportedly in the market for a power forward to back up Duke transfer Nik Khamenia, with three other scholarship spots open for reserve players.