Haylen Ayers, one of the top prospects in the women’s basketball Class of 2027, has set her official visit to UConn.

That trip to Storrs, Conn., is scheduled for Nov. 6, 247Sports’ Dushawn London reported Monday. The five-star recruit also has a visit planned for Oct. 24 to Vanderbilt, whose head coach, Shea Ralph, played at UConn.

Vanderbilt and UConn are two of her five finalists. The others are Texas and Kentucky of the Southeastern Conference, and Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

UConn is the only one of those finalists in the northern half of the country.

She is rated by the 247Sports composite as the No. 1 player at her position: shooting guard. She plays at the University School of Jackson in Tennessee.

Per industry reports, head coach Geno Auriemma has offers out to the top three players. as ranked by the 247Sports composite.

The first is the 6-foot Ayers, who is joined by two other No. 1-ranked players at their positions -- point guard Kaleena Smith from Ontario (Calif.) Christian and small forward Ivanna Wilson-Manyacka of The Bullis School in Potomac, Md.

247Sports does not have any scheduled visits listed for either Smith or Wilson-Manyacka as of yet. Smith is ranked No. 1 overall, followed by Wilson-Manyacka and Ayers.

Ayers and Smith were part of the 2026 FIBA U18 Women's AmeriCup team that beat Canada to win the AmeriCup tournament in Irapuato, Mexico, in June.

Fun fact:

Haylen Ayers and her mom could be the only mother-daughter tandem to accomplish this: win Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Haylen won the award for Tennessee in 2025, repeating what her mother, also a guard, did in 1999.

Her mom, then known as Ashley McElhiney, went on to play at Vanderbilt (1999-2003) and was selected by the Indiana Fever in the third round of the 2003 WNBA Draft but never played in the league.

On the men’s side, former UConn center Eric Reibe underwent foot surgery on Friday, as announced by his new school, Southern California.

The 7-foot-1 Reibe entered the transfer portal after his freshman season at UConn, where he was a valuable backup to senior – and eventual NBA first-round draft pick Tarris Reed Jr. in the 2025-26 season.

USC disclosed the surgery on Monday but the injury is not new. After arriving at USC this spring, Reibe apparently aggravated a lingering injury that he played with last season at UConn. He already had been ruled out for the summer, but the rest was not enough apparently.

The Trojans did not provide a timeline for his return.

Reibe appeared in all 40 games (five starts) last season for the Huskies. He averaged 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 13.8 minutes per game, hitting 65.8% of his shots.

He was one of three centers on the UConn roster last season, along with Reed and the 7-2 Rrezon Elezaj, who saw action in only four games. He also entered the portal.

UConn head coach Dan Hurley made his own moves in the transfer market, bringing in expected starter Na’jai Hines (Seton Hall), Oskar Giltay (Stanford) and Elmir Dzafic (Arkansas). All three are sophomores.