Why Olivia Vukosa picked UConn: 'It just felt like I was already on the team'

Olivia Vukosa had a plan for her recruiting process. She wanted to keep her options open by taking official visits to all five of her finalists — first Ohio State followed by Texas, LSU, UConn and South Carolina — before sitting down with her family and making a final decision.

She never made it to the end of the list. By the time her weekend in Storrs was over — despite still having a visit to South Carolina on the schedule — Vukosa committed to the Huskies.

“It just felt like home right away,” she said on Tuesday after announcing her decision at Christ The King High School in New York City.

UConn had no shortage of ways to potentially sell Vukosa on the program. There’s the long history of success — 12 national championships, the top coaching staff in the nation and the ongoing list of stars they’ve sent to the WNBA. The Huskies leaned on a couple former players by having fellow Christ The King alum Tina Charles as well as Olivia Nelson-Ododa pop in for a surprise appearance, too.

Despite all that, UConn’s current players ultimately sealed the deal with the No. 3 prospect in the class of 2026.

“The girls made her feel like she wasn't a recruit. They made her feel like she was already on the team and I don't think she had that anywhere else,” Damir Vukosa, Olivia’s father, said. “One of the GA's (graduate assistants) that went to them to the haunted house was like, ‘You didn't even know that she was a recruit. She blended in like she was already on the team.’ So I mean, that helps a lot.”

“It was definitely the girls on the team,” Olivia said on what set UConn apart. “They played a huge impact on that. One of the nights, they took me out after dinner and it just felt like I was already on the team. That's what I was looking for the whole time: A family environment and girls that would accept me for who I was. I felt most comfortable there and I was able to act like myself.”

While that connection proved to be the difference for the Huskies, it wasn’t the only deciding factor.

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