Egor Amosov, #17 of U18 Real Madrid in action during 2026 ANGE Finals Championship game Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona on May 24, 2026 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by David Grau/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images)
David Grau/Euroleague Basketball via Getty
The UConn men’s basketball program is getting in on the World Cup fever, as Dan Hurley’s latest recruit arrives in Storrs straight from the Real Madrid youth system.
Of course, Egor Amosov instead played with the Spanish club’s basketball academy, blossoming into one of Europe’s top youth prospects before officially joining the UConn roster for the 2026-27 season.
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Here are five things to know about Amosov as UConn rounds out its roster for the upcoming campaign.
Russian addition
Amosov arrived at Real Madrid from Samara, a city of around 1.15 million people in southern Russia. The 18-year-old hopes to join a notable group of successful men’s basketball players from Russia, which includes Sergei Belov and Andrei Kirilenko, by becoming the first in recent history to stop in Storrs.
While UConn has a long history of adding players from around the world, Amosov is believed to be the first Husky player to hail from Russia. However, on the women’s side, one of Geno Auriemma’s greatest-ever players arrived from St. Petersburg: Svetlana Abrosimova earned three first-team All-American honors at UConn before winning two European Championships and a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics for Russia.
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Joins crowded wing room
With an ultra-talented tandem of returning guards and a pair of notable front-court additions from the transfer portal, UConn will enter the 2026-27 season with its largest question mark comfortably being at the wing position. Amosov certainly provides many of the attributes needed to chain this missing link, standing at 6-foot-7 with a versatile skillset — the Russian youngster averaged 2.5 steals and attempted nearly seven 3-pointers per game last season in Liga U.
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However, he’ll find plenty of competition at his position upon arriving at UConn. Jayden Ross returns for his senior year, blossoming into the Huskies’ second-most efficient scoring option off the bench, while Dan Hurley dedicated his 2026 high-school recruiting class toward a pair of young wings in Junior County and Colben Landrew, who recently starred at the FIBA U18 AmeriCup and has started to earn early looks in the 2027 NBA Draft.
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ATHENS, GREECE – MAY 24: Egor Amosov, #17 of U18 Real Madrid in action during 2026 ANGE Finals Championship game Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona on May 24, 2026.
Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty
Adds to International flavor
Hurley focused almost exclusively on the European continent as he rounds out UConn’s 15-man roster for the upcoming season. Bosnian-born Elmir Džafic was Hurley’s most recent addition from the transfer portal after a largely uneventful freshman season at Arkansas, joining German-born Nils Machowski and Belgian center Oskar Giltay.
That matches the four European players on last year’s roster, which also features Australian guard Jacob Furphy. All five foreign-born players either graduated or transferred from Storrs last season, so it will be interesting to see if this year’s international contingent has some more staying power.
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Starred at EuroLeague tournament
The EuroLeague Next Generation Tournament has marked the biggest stage for many of the continent’s top prospects before progressing to the senior level, with former stars including Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama, among others. Amosov certainly looked like he was on a similar trajectory across four games at the tournament in Athens, averaging 15 points, five rebounds and four assists with staggering efficiency splits.
Real Madrid’s squad finished with a perfect 3-0 record to set up a championship matchup with rivals Barcelona, a stretch where Amosov shot a remarkable 85% from inside 2-point range and also converted at an impressive 41% from downtown. Amosov finished with 16 points and nine rebounds as Real Madrid fell in the title game, capping off an outstanding season that also saw him debut for the senior team.
ATHENS, GREECE – MAY 24: Egor Amosov, #17 of U18 Real Madrid in action with Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, #44 of U18 FC Barcelona during 2026 ANGE Finals Championship game Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona.
Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty
What Hurley said
While Amosov is technically the final player on UConn’s roster next season, the young forward certainly isn’t just rounding out the numbers, marking a major coup from the European game. Hurley echoed Amosov’s ability to provide an immediate impact player as he introduced the player Monday.
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“Egor is an exciting young prospect who brings versatility at the forward spot,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “His skillset fits what we look for in wing players and raises the level of that position group. We think that can compete to make an impact right away.”