Kelis Fisher bringing plenty of fun and energy to UConn

The freshman has quickly endeared herself to her new teammates.

Author

Daniel Connolly
July 23, 2025

Photo: Ian Bethune

Welcome to the UConn WBB Weekly, a recap of everything that happened in the world of UConn women’s basketball over the past week.

Sign up to get the Weekly in your inbox every Thursday or subscribe to get our premium newsletter which includes game coverage, analysis, recruiting updates, and more!

Headlines

News

Analysis

Last week’s Weekly

Kelis Fisher bringing plenty of fun and energy to UConn

Despite being a freshman, Kelis Fisher hasn’t had much trouble settling in at UConn. While some first-year players arrive quiet, shy and reserved, Fisher has been anything but. She’s energetic, charismatic and unapologetically herself — all of which has quickly endeared her to her new teammates.

“She's a big ball of energy,” Ashlynn Shade said. “She's me and Caroline [Ducharme]'s new roommate, so it's fun to have her around. She adds a little liveliness to me and Carol's apartment… She definitely has that young energy. It's been super fun to hang out with her and get to know her more. I mean, she's awesome.”

One example of Fisher’s personality: When she arrived on campus, she quickly and confidently declared that her nickname is “Big Fish” — which her teammates and coaches quickly ran with, though perhaps not the way she wanted.

“Kelis said her nickname is ‘Big Fish.’ I go, ‘Who calls you that, other than you? I've never heard anybody call you Big Fish.’ So she's already delusional,” Auriemma quipped. She thinks she should be called ‘Big Fish’ by everybody. It's like a guppy. I should call her ‘Guppy.’”

“She's a ‘Gup Gup.’ I like to call her ‘Gup Gup’ sometimes,” Shade laughed. “I just like to mess with her. She loves ‘Big Fish,’ but we always like to joke around with her.”

Fisher, to her credit, didn’t just come up with the nickname. She maintains that it’s passed down through her family and was ultimately bestowed upon her by her father. She went by the moniker in high school at IMG Academy, too, so it didn’t come out of nowhere.

“It got passed down to me and everybody started calling me ‘Big Fish,’” she said. “So I kind of just went with it and I like it.”

Regardless of how the nickname came about, it’s clear that hardly a dull day will go by with Fisher around. UConn already has one fun-loving, high-energy guard in KK Arnold, though the freshman might have the veteran beat in that regard.

“As KK has gotten older, I think KK has toned down. I mean, KK is still KK, obviously, but Kelis has all this new energy and she is like a high schooler still — energy wise. So it's fun. They're different in their own ways. Kelis is always go, go, go, and then KK knows her chill time but is still outgoing.”

Some of Fisher’s energy may come from her excitement to finally join the Huskies, though. She committed back in January of 2023 — midway through her sophomore year of high school and well before now-rising sophomores Morgan Cheli and Sarah Strong — so she’s waited a long time.

“I can't believe I'm really here. It's really crazy. I've been wanting to go here for a while now. I see that my dreams are coming true and it's really a blessing,” Fisher said. “Every time I walk in here, I just get surprised — like every time. But I guess I gotta realize I'm here and just get to work.”

As a freshman, Fisher’s energy should provide a path to playing time. She can be disruptive defensively and push the pace on offense with the ball in her hands. During workouts, Auriemma pushed her to keep her foot on the gas.

“There's no jogging the ball up the floor, Coach says,” Fisher relayed. “He hates when I jog the ball up the floor.”

A native of Baltimore originally, Fisher spent the last three years of high school at IMG Academy in Florida. The same weekend that the Huskies won their 12th national championship, Fisher and IMG captured one of its own at Chipotle Nationals behind a team-high 23 points from the guard in the title game.

While her experience at IMG prepared her well for college, the adjustment to UConn has still been difficult at times.

“It's definitely different from high school, I could say that. The intensity is way up,” Fisher said. “So it's a huge change but I’ll get used to it.”

Still, she understands it’s all a learning process and credited her teammates with helping through some difficult moments. Fisher also has the perfect mentor in Arnold and has tried to take full advantage of her time with the veteran point guard.

“She's a sponge,” Arnold said of the freshman. “She absorbs everything and she asks questions, especially in pickup or different drills that we do. She's just willing to learn, and she's been grinding each and every day.”

Nobody benefits from UConn’s summer session more than newcomers — particularly freshmen. It’s their first taste of college life without the stress of a full classload or the pressure of the regular season. For some, they also need the first month to come out of their shells and get integrated into the team.

That certainly wasn’t the case with Fisher, though.

“Gandy [Malou-Mamel] is 18 going on 32. Kelis is 18 going on 12,” Auriemma quipped. “So we're having fun with all that.”

Best of social media

Azzi Fudd threw out the first pitch at a Washington Nationals game:

Paige is already making her mark in the WNBA:

A cameo from the rookie sensation herself:

Kayleigh Heckel is gold:

UConn at the WNBA All-Star Game:

She ain’t wrong:

The vet takes it to the rookie:

Reply

or to participate.