Film Room: Jana El Alfy is not a typical post player

Few players in UConn history have been shrouded in more mystery and intrigue than Jana El Alfy. She’s been on the bench for close to two years now, but has yet to play in a single game with the Huskies after redshirting the end of the 2022-23 campaign and missing the entire 2023-24 season with a ruptured achilles.

Despite all that, El Alfy’s coaches and teammates have raved about her from the moment she stepped on campus.

“She's a dawg,” Paige Bueckers said. “You guys will see that.”

“The more we see some of the things she does, the more we miss her because we realize what she could bring to our team,” Geno Auriemma revealed at the end of last season.

After such an extended wait, El Alfy is finally set to make her collegiate debut this November as long as everything goes to plan (cross your fingers, knock on wood). Even though she hasn’t suited up for the Huskies since she arrived in January 2023, she did get some game action with Egypt at the U19 World Cup last summer.

During the tournament, El Alfy led all scorers with 21.4 points per game — thanks to a 38-point effort against Chinese Taipei as well as 29 points vs. the Czech Republic — while finishing fourth with 11.0 rebounds per game.

“She was the best player out there — by far. By far,” Auriemma said of her performance at the U19 World Cup. “These are the best [19] and under players in the world — including the US — and every coach that came back said she was the best player there.”

Even though those games were over a year ago (not to mention pre-achilles injury), it’s still El Alfy’s most recent game film, making it the best option to get a feel for who she is as a player.

A three-level scorer

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