The UConn Huskies (19) seem primed to make a late season run like they did in 2011, but they will need Shabazz Napier to step up as Kemba Walker once did.

Playing the Rutgers Scarlet Knights Wednesday night and Louisville Saturday, they could climb up from what looks to be a seven-seed in the NCAA Tournament with a couple wins.

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Napier will be part of a group of seniors honored before the game all because he was not part of a group of players who transferred from UConn after their team was banned from the 2013 post-season. Napier, Tyler Olander, Niels Giffey and Lasan Kromah will all play the final home game of their college careers Wednesday night.

"It's just how life is," Napier said Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. "You go through a lot of obstacles in life to get where you want to be. To be successful, everybody thinks the path is just straight ahead. There's a lot of obstacles. There's a lot of rivers, a lot of mountains you have to pass."

Napier was part of a freshman class that contributed to a Big East Tournament victory and National Championship. A former backup for Walker, Napier now needs only 28 points to pass his mentor on the school's all time scoring list. Napier leads UConn with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists per game.

Despite opportunities to leave for another school, or for the NBA, Napier stayed at UConn not only to try to lead the Huskies back to the Final Four, but to earn a degree. This May, he will do so with a degree in sociology and an above-3.0 GPA.

"He didn't come back for basketball, primarily he came back for his degree," Giffey told reporters, according to the AP. "That's something you've just got to respect as a friend and as a man."

Napier led UConn to a 82-71 win over Rutgers on Jan. 25 with 26 points, three rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.