The two freshman signees from Europe will be the last to arrive.
The UConn women’s basketball players – well most of them, anyway – are back on campus in Storrs for summer classes and summer practice.
Olivia Vukosa, the Gatorade National Girls High School Player of the Year, arrived last weekend, with UConn needing to wait for her fellow signees, Jovana Popovic of Serbia and France’s Marine Dursus, who committed to the Huskies last month.
The roster spots were created with the departures of Azzi Fudd and Serah Williams to the WNBA, Caroline Ducharme to graduation and two players to the transfer portal: Ayanna Patterson (Kentucky) and Ice Brady (Florida State).
Building the 2026-27 roster
UConn head coach Geno Auriemma isn’t expecting the newcomers to be instant replacements for Williams or Fudd, the latter an All-American and the No. 1 overall pick by the Dallas Wings in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
Auriemma has been doing this long enough – he’s been the women’s coach at UConn since 1985 – that he knows the team will come together by the time the season opens in November.
“I’m fortunate,” he said Wednesday night at the UConn Coaches Road Show in Southington, Conn., per the Hartford Courant. “I got a good group of kids, here for the right reasons; they want to be here. As long as that’s the case, it still comes down to, ‘What can you do with the players you have?’ Keep that as the focus, and we can keep doing what we’re doing.”
What they are doing is making deep runs in the Women’s NCAA Tournament. After an undefeated regular season and four wins in the tourney, UConn lost to South Carolina in one of the NCAA semifinals in April.
The Huskies were pursuing back-to-back championships and a lucky 13th title. In Auriemma’s 41 seasons, UConn has made the tournament 37 times (146-25) and went on to play in 25 Final Fours.
The team tasked with trying to win that next championship will be led by Sarah Strong, the consensus National Player of the Year in 2025-26, who inherits the reins to the Huskies from Fudd.
Roster check
This is how the UConn women's team stacks up as the summer period starts.
Seniors: KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade, both guards
Juniors: Jana El Alfy (redshirt), center; guards Kayleigh Heckel and Allie Ziebell; and Strong, a forward
Sophomores: Guards Kelis Fisher and Morgan Cheli (redshirt), center Gandy Malou-Mamel and forward Blanca Quinonez
Freshmen: Vukosa, a center/forward, and guards Popovic and Dursus
Quinonez, named Big East Freshman of the Year, will miss the June portion of the summer session due to shoulder surgery. She is expected back before the regular season starts.
Auriemma carried 15 players last season with Cheli sidelined for the campaign as she rehabbed and recovered ankle surgery. Injuries limited Brady to just two games on the season.
The return of Cheli is a bonus for UConn. She played in 24 games before the injury as a freshman in 2024-25 and averaged 2.5 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Entering college from Archbishop Mitty High School in San Jose, Calif., she was a 2024 McDonald’s and Naismith First Team All-American. ESPN ranked her as the No. 11 prospect in the class.
Auriemma said he has seen glimpses of that Cheli thus far.
"She's doing great. She's worked really hard," he told reporters. "I think she's had a tough go of it trying to get back on the court. You don't realize it, but it's been a long time since she's played. I think she's good to go."
The roster currently has 13 players.
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