Before he silenced an entire arena with one shot, UConn’s Braylon Mullins had already earned the loyalty of someone who knew him long before the spotlight, his former high school rival turned girlfriend, Kylee Beranek.
When Braylon Mullins pulled up from 35 feet with 0.4 seconds left on March 29 and dropped a buzzer-beater through the net to stun top-seeded Duke 73-72, the basketball world lost its mind.
The UConn freshman had been 0-for-4 from three all night, his team down 19 at halftime, and yet there he was, sending the Huskies to the Final Four in one of the most improbable shots in NCAA Tournament history.
But within hours, a different moment was spreading just as fast. In a Washington, D.C. hotel room, Braylon Mullins girlfriend, Kylee Beranekand and he danced together to “Goin’ Back To Indiana” by The Jackson 5, the joy between them entirely unfiltered.
Beranek, wearing jeans with his name stitched down the leg and a UConn t-shirt reading “We’re Not Done,” posted the clip to TikTok, where it went viral almost immediately.
She also shared an Instagram Story of the couple embracing on the court, captioning it “Back to Indiana!!”, a fitting nod to UConn’s Final Four date against Illinois at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, just miles from where both of them grew up.
Behind the shot was a story. And that story starts with a rivalry.
How Braylon Mullins and Kylee Beranek’s Rivalry Turned Into a Relationship
Their story, as it turns out, began long before that hotel room, and not on the friendliest of terms.
Mullins and Beranek attended rival high schools just 11 miles apart in central Indiana. He played basketball at Greenfield-Central, where his father Josh also served as his coach, while she played soccer and basketball at New Palestine High School.
In a state where prep sports rivalries carry serious community weight, the two were firmly on opposite sides of the competitive divide before they ever became a couple.
What eventually drew them together was, in many ways, the same thing that once set them apart. Rather than letting opposing school colors define how they saw each other, they built something rooted in mutual respect and a genuine understanding of what it means to compete at a high level.
That common athletic foundation gave their relationship a depth that most couples spend years trying to find. Their early rivalry didn’t create distance, it created the kind of honest admiration that tends to outlast everything else.
A Steady Partner: Kylee’s Role in Braylon Mullins’ UConn Journey
By the time Mullins arrived in Storrs as one of the most heralded freshmen in the country, a 2025 McDonald’s All-American, Indiana’s Mr. Basketball, and a consensus top-25 national recruit, Beranek was right there alongside him.
She enrolled at UConn in August 2025 after graduating high school the previous May, a deliberate decision that reflected just how seriously both of them take their relationship.
The timing, as it turned out, proved significant. Mullins’ freshman season was anything but seamless. An ankle injury sidelined him for the first six games, and the adjustment from celebrated prep star to Big East rotation player was steeper than even he had anticipated.
In a pre-tournament profile, CT Insider captured his arrival with a telling observation, he came to Storrs with all the hype, and with Kylee. Mullins himself acknowledged how much having a familiar face around had meant. “Having Kylee around will be comforting,” he told the outlet, noting how much else in his life was brand new.
That steadiness, understated as it was, proved meaningful across a season that consistently demanded more from UConn’s youngest contributors.
Beyond the Game: Mullins and Beranek After the Biggest Shot of His Life
When Mullins finally stepped fully into the national spotlight against Duke, he did it the hard way, grinding through a difficult shooting night before delivering the most important basket of his life.
The morning after, Mullins appeared on the Today show to walk viewers through those final chaotic seconds.
Meanwhile, Beranek’s TikTok caption, “HOMECOMING BABY!!”, said everything that needed saying, a nod to the Final Four returning both of them, in a sense, to their roots. Teammate Alex Karaban, still grinning at the postgame podium, summed it up in a single line: “The Indiana kid sent us to Indianapolis.”
Behind every iconic shot, there is a longer story. For Mullins, that story includes a girlfriend who once stood on the opposing sideline, and who chose, quite deliberately, to be the first person in his corner when it all finally came together.
FAQs
How did Braylon Mullins meet Kylee?
Braylon Mullins and Kylee first met as rivals during their high school days in Indiana. Their competitive relationship later developed into a strong personal bond.
Where does Braylon Mullins play college basketball?
He plays as a freshman guard for the UConn Huskies in Storrs, Connecticut.
What is special about their relationship?
The relationship is special because it is based on a rivalry-turned-respect and connection, which is different from most relationships among college athlete couples.
Is Kylee a public figure on social media?
Kylee is a low-profile person and keeps her life private but is sometimes mentioned in relation to Mullins on social media such as Instagram and TikTok.
