After spending the past year in Storrs, Connecticut, Aidan Mahaney is headed back to sunny California.
The Lafayette, California, native and former Saint Mary’s guard will return to the West Coast after committing to UC Santa Barbara for the 2025-26 season, college basketball insider Jon Rothstein reported Tuesday. Mahaney joins Joe Pasternack and the Gauchos with one year of eligibility remaining.
Mahaney, a two-time all-conference guard with the Gaels not long ago, struggled to stay on the floor playing for Dan Hurley. After being featured in UConn’s starting five in the first five games of the season, Mahaney logged just 10.9 minutes off the bench over his final 29 appearances with the team. He averaged 4.5 points and 1.3 assists while shooting 37.7% from the field last season.
UConn transfer Aidan Mahaney tells me that he has committed to UC Santa Barbara.
Significant Big West News.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 29, 2025
Mahaney recorded a season-high 15 points in UConn’s 87-84 win over the Providence Friars on Jan. 5, then had a 14-point night in a 76-72 loss to the Xavier Musketeers on Jan. 25. But just when it seemed like he was developing a rhythm, his minutes declined even more down the stretch of the regular season.
Mahaney didn’t score a point in four consecutive games spanning from Feb. 15 to March 1 and played just 3.0 minutes per game during that stretch. He tallied four points and grabbed one rebound in 8 minutes of action during UConn’s season-ending loss to the Florida Gators in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Mahaney’s first signature moment in college was against Gonzaga during his freshman season in 2022-23, when he led the Gaels to a come-from-behind victory with 18 points and three assists in a 78-70 final from Moraga, California. Saint Mary’s went on to play in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 5 seed. The Gaels took down 12-seed VCU in the first round before falling to UConn, which went on to win the first of back-to-back titles, in the second round.
Mahaney’s most recent game against the Bulldogs was a much different story, though, as he finished with two points and one rebound in the Huskies’ 77-71 victory over Gonzaga this past season at Madison Square Garden. He logged 8 minutes and shot 1-for-4 from the field.
Mahaney averaged 13.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists with Saint Mary’s, appearing in 69 games and making 60 starts.
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