UConn's top storylines as official practice begins

The Huskies will play their first exhibition game in exactly one month.

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Daniel Connolly
October 03, 2024

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Photo: Ian Bethune

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UConn's top storylines as official practice begins

On Thursday, UConn women’s basketball will hold its first official practice of the 2024-25 season exactly one month before its exhibition contest vs. Fort Hays State. While the Huskies have held offseason workouts up to this point, their length and frequency are limited by the NCAA. Now, UConn can dig into its preparations for the new campaign.

A look at the team’s top storylines ahead of its first practice:

Injuries

When Auriemma last spoke to the media back in June, he (understandably) didn’t have much of an update on any of the team’s injured players — just that they were all working their way back. Considering they were all at different points in their recoveries, and the fact that the season was still months away, there wasn’t much more he could say.

That’s no longer the case. UConn will play an exhibition in exactly one month, so there should be more clarity on everyone’s status.

Specifically: Is Jana El Alfy fully recovered from a ruptured achilles? How close is Azzi Fudd to a return after tearing her ACL last November? How did Ayanna Patterson’s bothersome knee respond after surgery? How is Aubrey Griffin progressing after tearing her ACL in January? Will Caroline Ducharme try to play this season? Is Morgan Cheli still dealing with a hamstring issue?

There’s a lot to catch up on.

Frontcourt questions

By far the biggest question mark on UConn’s roster is the frontcourt. Aaliyah Edwards is gone, leaving some combination of Aubrey Griffin, Ice Brady, Jana El Alfy, Ayanna Patterson, and Sarah Strong to replace her — none of whom are anywhere close to a sure thing.

Griffin, El Alfy and Patterson are coming off season-ending injuries. El Alfy and Strong have never played college basketball. Brady struggled to make an impact throughout most of her freshman season.

Still, there’s no help coming. UConn will have to find a way to make it work with hose five. The good news? There’s plenty of talent in that group. Strong is the No. 1 recruit in her class, Brady and Patterson were both top-10 prospects, El Alfy dominated at the U19 World Cup in 2023 and Griffin has proven herself to be an impact player when healthy.

With all the options that the Huskies have, someone is bound to step up. Who that will be remains a mystery.

Paige Bueckers’ final go-around

After a disappointing performance in the Final Four loss to Iowa, Auriemma challenged Bueckers to be more assertive and selfish with the ball. While that’s been a battle through her collegiate career, Bueckers is now set to begin her final season at UConn. It’s now or never.

Bueckers has been dealt a tough hand during collegiate career. She had to play through the bubble season as a freshman, then missed much of her sophomore year and entire junior year with back-to-back knee injuries. While Bueckers returned for this past season, the rest of the Huskies’s roster was again depleted by injuries.

This is her last chance to win a title. To this point, she’s proven that she’s good enough to get her team to a Final Four. Now, it’s time to see if she can get over the hump to win it all.

Backcourt depth

UConn has a lot of guards — nine, to be exact. To put that in perspective, the Huskies’ 2019 Final Four squad had 10 players total. There isn’t much filler in that group, either. There’s Paige Bueckers atop the depth chart, transfer Kaitlyn Chen, redshirt juniors Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme coming off injuries, impressive sophomores KK Arnold, Ashlynn Shade and Qadence Samuels, then a pair of highly-touted freshmen in Morgan Cheli and Allie Ziebell.

That’s a lot of talent with only so many minutes to go around. While the offense will be built around Bueckers, everything else in the backcourt is up in the air. Arnold and Shade saved the team last season, but do they get bumped down the depth chart if Fudd and Ducharme are healthy? If those five players get the most minutes, where does that leave the freshmen? Will Samuels even have the opportunity to earn minutes?

After spending the last season barely scraping by after the roster was decimated due to injuries, UConn won’t complain about having too many good players. But it’ll certainly be a challenge for Auriemma to find time for everyone.

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