The Maui Invitational has served as a launching pad for national championship runs.

In the prestigious event’s history, seven teams that competed in the Maui field in November went on to cut down the title nets in April.

UConn is on that list.

During the 2010-11 season, the Huskies, led by Kemba Walker, gave the college basketball world a hint of the team’s championship potential by winning the Maui event for the second time. The Huskies ended up capturing the program’s third national title.

Whatever the results are in the three games in three days tournament this week, No. 2 UConn will fly back home after Wednesday’s game with a more accurate read on the team’s potential.

The Huskies (4-0) were never tested in their four opening games, winning by an average margin of 37.8 points per game. They’ll face considerably tougher competition in Maui starting at 2:30 p.m. Monday against Memphis (4-0) in their opener. They’ll play either Michigan State or Colorado on Tuesday.

“It gets real really quickly these days…,” former Husky Donny Marshall said. “I 1,000% think they’re ready. I don’t know if our UConn fans are ready because they expect us to go undefeated. But, hey, we’re used to that.”

Marshall and three other college basketball experts — ESPN analysts Jay Bilas and Seth Greenberg and John Fanta of Fox Sports — recently gave their impressions about the Huskies.

Here’s what they said:

Bilas, who’ll be part of the ESPN2 broadcast team for the UConn-Memphis game, called the Huskies a work in progress.

“They’re really good right now but they’re going to be way better in January and February,” Bilas said. “They’re going to Maui and they’re going to have some tough games there that’s going to tell (coach) Danny (Hurley) what they really need to do.

“I think the players get a lot out of that. Right now, just watching their first few games, they need to be better communicators on the floor. There have been times on the offensive end when Alex Karaban has to point to other guys and say, `No, you’re supposed to be over here, or you’re supposed to be there.’

“And they’re going to have to do a better job guarding the ball initially. That’s going to be something Aidan Mahaney is going to have to get better at. He’s trying to still settle in a little bit. He hasn’t played anywhere near his best.

“But they’ve got the pieces to be really good. … As they make that climb, and they’re going to, they’ll be competitive with anybody.”

Greenberg, a former college basketball coach, has a close relationship with Hurley, He watched the Huskies practice during the preseason.

He pointed to point guard play as a concern.

UConn’s offense doesn’t run as smoothly without Tristen Newton and Stephon Castle, who’ve moved on to the NBA. The Huskies need more from veteran Hassan Diarra and Mahaney, a transfer from Saint Mary’s.

“The biggest thing right now is at the point guard position, just getting that stable,” Greenberg said.

Greenberg added that the sophomore class — Solo Ball, Jayden Ross and Jaylin Stewart — has to take the next step.

He believes that UConn is in good shape at the center position with Tarris Reed Jr. and Samson Johnson, and redshirt junior Alex Karaban and freshman Liam McNeeley can be counted on to consistently produce.

“Alex and Liam, they know what they’re going to get out of those two guys,” Greenberg said. “Liam McNeeley is just a bad dude. Alex has done a great job mentoring him as a leader. At the five spot, they’re in pretty good shape. Solo Ball has been really good. It’s nice to see a kid be patient, work on his game and then embrace the opportunity. It seems to me that’s what Solo has really done.”

Fanta and Marshall were on the sidelines at Gampel Pavilion Tuesday night to work the Fox Sports 1 broadcast of UConn’s game against East Texas A&M.

Both have seen some encouraging signs from the Huskies

Fanta raved about the play of Karaban who has been “fantastic.” He’s looking forward to tracking the continued evolution of Ball and Ross.

He added that Mahaney needs time to adjust to his new college basketball home.

“I think he has a lot better basketball in him than he’s playing now,” Fanta said. “Remember, it took Tristen Newton time to figure it out.”

Newton, who transferred from East Carolina, eventually developed into an All-American and a two-time national champion.

The Maui Invitational also will give UConn a better read about its center position, according to Fanta.

“There’s no accurate answer that we’ve gotten so far,” Fanta said. “We get that in Maui.”

While UConn has received some criticism about its extremely soft schedule to open the season, Fanta has no problem with it.

“Things are about to ramp up for this team,” Fanta said. “I like the scheduling strategy. I know that it might not be sexy the first two weeks of the season to not have the massive test. But there’s a science behind this and I think it makes sense for this club.

“It would be one thing if they didn’t challenge themselves after this point, but they are challenging themselves plenty after this. They needed these four games to figure some things out.”

Marshall has faith that the Huskies will be successful despite all the changes to the roster.

He’s been impressed with several players.

“I knew that Jayden was really good,” Marshall said. “I had a chance to see practices before the season last year. His spatial awareness last year was years ahead of what his age was. So I’m happy to see him playing.

“Solo Ball has always been a special player in my mind, so I’m excited about him obviously.

“The freshman (McNeeley), everyone is excited about him. My guy is Alex Karaban. I would say with the sexiness with the new names and new players, Alex Karaban is one of those guys that continues to be Alex Karaban and that’s solid across the board. I’m a little biased because he’s one of my favorite players in college.

“With the evolution of his role changing but continuing to play the same way, I think that’s the most special thing that I’ve seen this season.”

g.keefe@theday.com