2024-2025 Roster Breakdown.. Swipe

[RoadMaster]

 

[yhun89]

Honestly I’m feeling confident with our team. I don’t really think we’re “undersized” like many believe, we brought in 6’2 Strong, who also happens to be an incredibly prolific rebounder, which is good considering we lost our best in Edwards.

We have Jana, who Geno and co. have all raved about. Was a standout in the short play time we saw from her FIBA experience.

In addition to them, our guards, like Ducharme and Samuels, are 6’1, and incoming Cheli is 6’2 with a variety of skills to go along with her build.

We’ve got some small guards like KK and Chen, but their speed and abilities make up for the height deficit. Chen may be small, but she dropped 20 on a much taller UCLA team. And of course, we have the best current college player in the nation, Paige Buckets.

 

[Blond D.]

Don't sleep on Ashlynn Shade. She got a ton of minutes last year and improved in almost every aspect of her game. I think with her experience and now knowing what to prepare for she will be not only an even bigger scoring threat both inside and outside but much better at passing and defense.

 

[Geew1992]

Don't sleep on Ashlynn Shade. She got a ton of minutes last year and improved in almost every aspect of her game. I think with her experience and now knowing what to prepare for she will be not only an even bigger scoring threat both inside and outside but much better at passing and defense.

And big East freshman of the year!!

 

[Bone Dog]

Honestly I’m feeling confident with our team. I don’t really think we’re “undersized” like many believe, we brought in 6’2 Strong, who also happens to be an incredibly prolific rebounder, which is good considering we lost our best in Edwards.

We have Jana, who Geno and co. have all raved about. Was a standout in the short play time we saw from her FIBA experience.

In addition to them, our guards, like Ducharme and Samuels, are 6’1, and incoming Cheli is 6’2 with a variety of skills to go along with her build.

We’ve got some small guards like KK and Chen, but their speed and abilities make up for the height deficit. Chen may be small, but she dropped 20 on a much taller UCLA team. And of course, we have the best current college player in the nation, Paige Buckets.

I am totally with you on this.

I expect Jana will be scary good by mid February. She'll probably be pretty rough and tentative in November and December, maybe get in foul trouble a lot until she figures out her place in the defense. And the following season I expect she'll be an absolute terror.

And Sarah will also be great, and will probably find her place on both ends of the court a bit sooner than Jana.

The question marks for me among the newcomers are Morgan and Allie. They have some serious skills, but it's not as easy to see how they'll translate to D1. Morgan's heart and energy are irrepressible and that has to pay off for the Huskies before long. Allie is a shooter and that has an obvious currency at any level. If they can find a way to contribute early, I think the team will be a matchup nightmare for everyone, even SC.

And if we get the sophomore leap I expect from Ice and Q then our depth will be awesome. I don't count KK and Ash in this because they already got their sophomore leap last February. Now we're waiting to see their "junior" leap.

As a fan, I find myself torn between dreaming of this season and next. We'll go from a very thin team to being a loaded one this year. Still, much of the roster either lacks D1 experience or is recovering from injury. The excitement this generates, the uncertainty of it all, is amazing. And the following year, so many of those question marks will have been erased. The sophomores will have become sturdy juniors and the freshmen will then be incredible sophomores. What an amazing veteran team we'll get to watch in 25-26. But there is a possibility that the incandescent talent of PB will have moved on to the W. That is a bitter-sweet thought.

These next two years should be amazing for us fans.

 

[yhun89]

And big East freshman of the year!!

The next midrange master.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

Honestly I’m feeling confident with our team. I don’t really think we’re “undersized” like many believe, we brought in 6’2 Strong, who also happens to be an incredibly prolific rebounder, which is good considering we lost our best in Edwards.

We have Jana, who Geno and co. have all raved about. Was a standout in the short play time we saw from her FIBA experience.

In addition to them, our guards, like Ducharme and Samuels, are 6’1, and incoming Cheli is 6’2 with a variety of skills to go along with her build.

We’ve got some small guards like KK and Chen, but their speed and abilities make up for the height deficit. Chen may be small, but she dropped 20 on a much taller UCLA team. And of course, we have the best current college player in the nation, Paige Buckets.

Where are you getting your height information? The official roster has always had Ducharme at 6'2 and Samuals at 6'. Ducharme, when healthy, can play with anyone in the country.

 

[NYCHUSKIES]

My opinion is that Chen is a cerebral type of player and sunch an important asset to this coming season. I would.love to see Chen and Paige run the offense together. Chen is an excellent replacement for Nika, except Chen I think is a more offensive minded player than Nika's defense first approach. Either way its a win win for us.

Al's, I was thinking... (which can be dangerous sometimes..lol) Ayanna's role with this team. I hope they use her more offensively. Ayanna is uber athletic, kind of like Aubrey but stronger. This can definitely change the trigectory of any given game, depending who we are playing. I can just see Paige, Chen, or KK passing the ball to a cutting Ayannna or Aubrey at will. Then you have sharp shooters like Azzi, Caroline, Allie, and Paige on all corners of the court.... Man, if they stay healthy, this is team is lethal. And that's not including what Sarah brings to the table which is basically everything.

 

[Dugway]

I hope to see a 100% healthy and capable Azzi Fudd; for all 36 games next season! She has NPOY potential, but nobody even mentions her due to her previous injuries.

 

[Cuango]

Honestly I’m feeling confident with our team. I don’t really think we’re “undersized” like many believe, we brought in 6’2 Strong, who also happens to be an incredibly prolific rebounder, which is good considering we lost our best in Edwards.

We have Jana, who Geno and co. have all raved about. Was a standout in the short play time we saw from her FIBA experience.

In addition to them, our guards, like Ducharme and Samuels, are 6’1, and incoming Cheli is 6’2 with a variety of skills to go along with her build.

We’ve got some small guards like KK and Chen, but their speed and abilities make up for the height deficit. Chen may be small, but she dropped 20 on a much taller UCLA team. And of course, we have the best current college player in the nation, Paige Buckets.

I believe Ducharme is 6’2”!

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Has KK sprouted or has Azzi lost a couple of inches? Yeah, yeah I know, but that pix really caught my eye.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

I expect Jana will be scary good by mid February. She'll probably be pretty rough and tentative in November and December, maybe get in foul trouble a lot until she figures out her place in the defense. And the following season I expect she'll be an absolute terror.

Respect your acumen @Bone Dog but I have a feeling she's going to turn your prognostication on its head. True, we won't know if she's foul prone until she's out there, but it won't be because she's tentative. Her place in the defense? She's suppose to be the big one in and close to the key right?

 

[Scud49]

The next midrange master.

I think that is going to be Ms. Chen, and very quickly. I'm thinking Lou Lopez Senechal type quick.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

My opinion is that Chen is a cerebral type of player and sunch an important asset to this coming season. I would.love to see Chen and Paige run the offense together. Chen is an excellent replacement for Nika, except Chen I think is a more offensive minded player than Nika's defense first approach. Either way its a win win for us.

Al's, I was thinking... (which can be dangerous sometimes..lol) Ayanna's role with this team. I hope they use her more offensively. Ayanna is uber athletic, kind of like Aubrey but stronger. This can definitely change the trigectory of any given game, depending who we are playing. I can just see Paige, Chen, or KK passing the ball to a cutting Ayannna or Aubrey at will. Then you have sharp shooters like Azzi, Caroline, Allie, and Paige on all corners of the court.... Man, if they stay healthy, this is team is lethal. And that's not including what Sarah brings to the table which is basically everything.

I agree with most everything you stated here except for the evaluation of Ayanna and her comparison to Aubrey. Where did this come from? Surely not from what little we've seen of her in a UConn uniform. If everyone is healthy, I don't see her role improving much over what it was previously ... if that. There are just so many minutes and this team is loaded. I see the top 10 players as: Paige, Azzi, Caroline, Aubrey, Jana, Sarah, Chen, KK, Ashlynn, and Ice. That leaves Morgan, Q, Allie and Ayanna fighting for 3-5 minutes a game ...if that.

 

[Bone Dog]

Respect your acumen @Bone Dog but I have a feeling she's going to turn your prognostication on its head. True, we won't know if she's foul prone until she's out there, but it won't be because she's tentative. Her place in the defense? She's suppose to be the big one in and close to the key right?

Sure, close in, rim protector, etc. That's how she'll get in foul trouble, trying to swat too many shots. But Geno also uses his bigs at the top of the key on offense and defense. I expect to see Jana and the rest of bigs on high hedges often. Sarah is a beast on high hedges. It was a specialty of her HS coach's game plans. Our defense is at its best when they aren't reduced to trying to block shots all the time. Beat your opponent to the spot and move your feet -- that's how to avoid foul trouble. But this requires some live game experience in the defense. I was thinking she'll be tentative initially on offense while she figures out her role. It won't last.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

Sure, close in, rim protector, etc. That's how she'll get in foul trouble, trying to swat too many shots. But Geno also uses his bigs at the top of the key on offense and defense. I expect to see Jana and the rest of bigs on high hedges often. Sarah is a beast on high hedges. It was a specialty of her HS coach's game plans. Our defense is at its best when they aren't reduced to trying to block shots all the time. Beat your opponent to the spot and move your feet -- that's how to avoid foul trouble. But this requires some live game experience in the defense. I was thinking she'll be tentative initially on offense while she figures out her role. It won't last.

We agree. That's why I said close to the key and you are right Geno makes full use of his bigs with screens etc.

 

[Happydad745]

I hope to see a 100% healthy and capable Azzi Fudd; for all 36 games next season! She has NPOY potential, but nobody even mentions her due to her previous injuries.

Azzi has All-American talent that seems to get interrupted by injury and consistency....hopefully that will change this coming season.

 

[hoophuskee]

I agree with most everything you stated here except for the evaluation of Ayanna and her comparison to Aubrey. Where did this come from? Surely not from what little we've seen of her in a UConn uniform. If everyone is healthy, I don't see her role improving much over what it was previously ... if that. There are just so many minutes and this team is loaded. I see the top 10 players as: Paige, Azzi, Caroline, Aubrey, Jana, Sarah, Chen, KK, Ashlynn, and Ice. That leaves Morgan, Q, Allie and Ayanna fighting for 3-5 minutes a game ...if that.

I could be wrong about this but I believe what we saw from Ayanna before she came to UCONN starting with the 3-on-3 Tourney and the McD A/A game, and then when she came to UCONN, - all of her frosh year she wasn't the same athltetic Ayanna that played prior to all of that. I believe if she is healthy and the rehab and surgeries resolved the issues, then she'll look comepeltey different than what we saw as a frosh.

 

[Just.A.Fan]

I could be wrong about this but I believe what we saw from Ayanna before she came to UCONN starting with the 3-on-3 Tourney and the McD A/A game, and then when she came to UCONN, - all of her frosh year she wasn't the same athltetic Ayanna that played prior to all of that. I believe if she is healthy and the rehab and surgeries resolved the issues, then she'll look comepeltey different than what we saw as a frosh.

That's a lot of "IFs", and what any athlete does in high school, AAU, etc., means very little until they put on the UConn uniform and compete at this level against better players.

 

[Bone Dog]

I could be wrong about this but I believe what we saw from Ayanna before she came to UCONN starting with the 3-on-3 Tourney and the McD A/A game, and then when she came to UCONN, - all of her frosh year she wasn't the same athltetic Ayanna that played prior to all of that. I believe if she is healthy and the rehab and surgeries resolved the issues, then she'll look comepeltey different than what we saw as a frosh.

I like Ayanna's prospects, if she's healthy. I watched a lot of her HS games -- you could find a bunch on YouTube two years ago. One thing I noticed is that she's usually the biggest strongest kind on the court. She was used to having smaller kids swipe at the ball and she developed a style to prevent that. She didn't have a very developed post-up game. But she was fast. I mean not just for a big kid. She had very quick feet and could run the floor really well.

This is what I looked for from her when she first came to Storrs, and I wasn't disappointed. In that team context, she ended up in the low post more than she had in high school, and you could see how uncertain she was in that part of her game. Plus she was being guarded by kids as big an almost as strong as she is. I'm sure this was a bit disorienting. On defense, she was often out of position early on, which is understandable early on. But she moved her feet really well and ran the court well. She may not be as fast as Aubrey, but she's probably not a whole lot slower. Aaliyah at her best ran the floor like she can.

If she can come back fully healthy, I expect her to be a quick power forward playing next to either Jana or Ice and sharing minutes with Sarah. Her combination of speed and strength is -- potentially -- unusual and could cause a lot of matchup problems. The player I think is most like her is Ashlyn Watkins on SC, though Watkins is much more developed on the defensive end. But then she's had her sophomore leap and is about to show us her junior leap. And don't worry, I'm only talking about potential. She has yet to accomplish anything.

 

[hoophuskee]

That's a lot of "IFs", and what any athlete does in high school, AAU, etc., means very little until they put on the UConn uniform and compete at this level against better players.

Yes!!!

 

[hoophuskee]

I like Ayanna's prospects, if she's healthy. I watched a lot of her HS games -- you could find a bunch on YouTube two years ago. One thing I noticed is that she's usually the biggest strongest kind on the court. She was used to having smaller kids swipe at the ball and she developed a style to prevent that. She didn't have a very developed post-up game. But she was fast. I mean not just for a big kid. She had very quick feet and could run the floor really well.

This is what I looked for from her when she first came to Storrs, and I wasn't disappointed. In that team context, she ended up in the low post more than she had in high school, and you could see how uncertain she was in that part of her game. Plus she was being guarded by kids as big an almost as strong as she is. I'm sure this was a bit disorienting. On defense, she was often out of position early on, which is understandable early on. But she moved her feet really well and ran the court well. She may not be as fast as Aubrey, but she's probably not a whole lot slower. Aaliyah at her best ran the floor like she can.

If she can come back fully healthy, I expect her to be a quick power forward playing next to either Jana or Ice and sharing minutes with Sarah. Her combination of speed and strength is -- potentially -- unusual and could cause a lot of matchup problems. The player I think is most like her is Ashlyn Watkins on SC, though Watkins is much more developed on the defensive end. But then she's had her sophomore leap and is about to show us her junior leap. And don't worry, I'm only talking about potential. She has yet to accomplish anything.

I just thought she was much more "athletic" than what I saw even in the H/S with that 3-on-3. Again - I could be way off base. IMO she needs that athleticism more than bulk and if she loses that athleticism it will affect her celling greatly.

 

[Alydar]

I am totally with you on this.

I expect Jana will be scary good by mid February. She'll probably be pretty rough and tentative in November and December, maybe get in foul trouble a lot until she figures out her place in the defense. And the following season I expect she'll be an absolute terror.

And Sarah will also be great, and will probably find her place on both ends of the court a bit sooner than Jana.

The question marks for me among the newcomers are Morgan and Allie. They have some serious skills, but it's not as easy to see how they'll translate to D1. Morgan's heart and energy are irrepressible and that has to pay off for the Huskies before long. Allie is a shooter and that has an obvious currency at any level. If they can find a way to contribute early, I think the team will be a matchup nightmare for everyone, even SC.

And if we get the sophomore leap I expect from Ice and Q then our depth will be awesome. I don't count KK and Ash in this because they already got their sophomore leap last February. Now we're waiting to see their "junior" leap.

As a fan, I find myself torn between dreaming of this season and next. We'll go from a very thin team to being a loaded one this year. Still, much of the roster either lacks D1 experience or is recovering from injury. The excitement this generates, the uncertainty of it all, is amazing. And the following year, so many of those question marks will have been erased. The sophomores will have become sturdy juniors and the freshmen will then be incredible sophomores. What an amazing veteran team we'll get to watch in 25-26. But there is a possibility that the incandescent talent of PB will have moved on to the W. That is a bitter-sweet thought.

These next two years should be amazing for us fans.

Great analysis.

On the front line UConn loses Edwards. Brady is joined by El Alfy, Patterson and Strong and Geno has Griffin, Samuels and Cheli as hybrid players who can play some minutes inside. The beauty is that Geno can afford to let them all play aggressively and not worry much about a short bench.
I remember watching Okafer, the best shot blocker UConn ever had. After he blocked a couple the opponents were reluctant to drive inside and even when they did they altered their shots which lowered their fg%.

It's premature to say how any one of the new players will adapt to D1 play but the number of them and the variety of elite skills they bring with them tells me that at least some of them will play important roles this season.