With Serah Williams in the fold, UConn building a formidable frontcourt

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Headlines

News

• UConn lands Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams

• Aubrey Griffin to undergo arthroscopic procedure on left knee

Last week’s Weekly

• Despite quiet freshman year, Allie Ziebell remains optimistic about future

With the addition of Serah Williams, UConn building a formidable frontcourt

Realistically, UConn women’s basketball didn’t need to beef up its frontcourt. After the position group was much-maligned and seen as the team’s biggest weakness during the regular season, it put everything together in March and played a major role in the Huskies’ national championship.

They went up against three of the top bigs in the nation and acquitted themselves each time. They held Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers to 10 points on 3-11 shooting. USC’s Kiki Iriafen also finished with 10 points on 3-15 shooting and didn’t make a field goal after the first quarter. UCLA’s Lauren Betts put up 26 points on 11-18 shooting but UConn slowed her down enough to record the largest margin of victory in Final Four history.

With another year of development for Sarah Strong, Jana El Alfy and Ice Brady along with the return of Ayanna Patterson and Morgan Cheli as well as the addition of Gandy Malou-Mamel, the Huskies could’ve run it back — and done so with a straight face.

Instead, they bolstered their frontcourt by landing Serah Williams out the transfer portal. Listed at 6-4, the two-time All-Big Ten First Team Selection and the 2024 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year nearly averaged a double-double with 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds last season at Wisconsin.

Just like that, the position that has long been UConn’s weak point now looks to be a major strength. The addition of Williams should provide the Huskies with a low post anchor to play alongside Strong, who has already established herself as a superstar playing out of the four.

With those two atop the depth chart, UConn can bring high-potential youngsters off the bench. El Alfy turned a corner during the NCAA Tournament and seems primed to take a leap as she enters her first healthy offseason with the program. After missing seven games with a shoulder injury, Brady returned “a different person,” according to Auriemma, which will hopefully help her find more consistency as she enters her third season.

Meanwhile, the team raved about Patterson as she neared a return in November, only for a shoulder injury to end her season before it began. With Williams likely to carry the scoring load, Patterson can focus on impacting games with her rebounding, defense and physicality. As for Cheli, she proved useful as a stretch-four in a small-ball lineup before an injury injury derailed her freshman year.

Williams will also help incoming freshman Gandy Malou-Mamel, a 6-6 center from Ireland by way of New Jersey. Instead of being thrown into the fire, she can focus on developing during the early stages her career.

Of course, all of that hinges on Williams actually working out at UConn. Transfers might have a higher hit rate than freshmen but there’s no such thing as a sure thing, especially given the pressure and expectations that come with playing for the Huskies.

Still, there’s plenty of reason to believe in Williams. For starters, she played for former UConn assistant Marisa Moseley at Wisconsin. Much like Kaitlyn Chen and Princeton, there’s likely to be some overlap between the programs. If nothing else, Moseley likely served as a confidant for both sides during the recruiting process.

Williams also isn’t the first post player that the Huskies have pulled out of the portal. Back in 2021, they landed Dorka Juhász from Ohio State — also a two-time Big Ten All-First Team selection. During her two years in Storrs, Juhász proved to be the quintessential UConn big.

The two are different players but comparing numbers from their final Big Ten season between the two, Williams has Juhász beat in every category except rebounding, 2-point shooting and 3-point shooting. That success translated over for Juhász; the Huskies hope the same goes for Williams.

As UConn prepares for life after Paige Bueckers, Williams projects to play a crucial role. The Huskies can’t replace their departed superstar. Instead, they may just change the way they do things.

For years, UConn has been a guard-dominant team, hoping the ability of its backcourt can make up for the shortcomings of its frontcourt. Every year, Auriemma would say something along the lines of: “Our our post players are going to decide the fate of our season.”

If all goes according to plan this upcoming season, the Huskies won’t be crossing their fingers anymore. For the first time in a long time — thanks to the addition of Williams — it looks to be a position of strength.

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