Jana El Alfy remaining positive despite season ending injury

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Jana El Alfy remaining positive despite season-ending injury

At the start of the summer, no addition seemed more exciting for UConn women’s basketball than that of freshman Jana El Alfy. She impressed her teammates in UConn’s early summer sessions and dominated in the U-19 World Cup, where she was representing her home country of Egypt.

That excitement all came crashing down when the freshman ruptured her Achilles in her final World Cup game, sidelining her for the entire 2023-24 college season.

“It was just really heartbreaking. I mean, she's so like happy and joyful and positive,” Azzi Fudd said of El Alfy’s injury. “You don’t want to see that for anyone, but especially last year getting to know her, it was like this little tease having her here early and not getting to actually play with her.”

Unfortunately, it’s nothing new to UConn’s veteran players who have seen injuries impact nearly every player on the roster over the past couple of seasons, including season ending injuries for both Paige Bueckers and freshman Ice Brady last year. The upcoming season has started off on a similar note with El Alfy already ruled out.

“I mean, it's every year we're like, ‘Alright, next year is gonna be better’ and we are starting the same way,” added Fudd.

It’s hard to see a bright spot for all of the injury troubles UConn has faced recently but for El Alfy, the team’s familiarity with her situation should leave her with a strong support system throughout her rehab.

“I think it's got to be nice and kind of inspiring in a sense, knowing that almost everyone on this team has been through something,” Fudd said. “We've been through all levels of injuries. So kind of seeing that, all of us can get through this, we've done it before, it's not the first time so she's gonna have no issue. She's super tough. She's gonna be back in no time.”

Since El Alfy enrolled early, joining the team this past January, she has had more exposure to watching her teammates navigate the injury rehab process than the typical freshman. She was a part of the team when Fudd navigated her knee injuries to return for the 2023 postseason, and as both Bueckers and Brady continued their rehab processes to be cleared to return to play this summer.

“Jana is lucky to have somebody like [Paige] and Ice that have been through the same thing she's gonna go through, and see how quickly it'll pass by,” Nika Muhl said.

That experience seems to be benefiting El Alfy, who remains positive despite the disappointment of her injury according to her teammates.

“She's good. I think that she's just keeping her spirits high. We're keeping giving her positive energy,” Aaliyah Edwards said of her fellow frontcourt player.

“She's been super positive. But I was so surprised to see like how good her spirits have been dealing with all this. So I'm really proud of her from that,” added Fudd.

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