How UConn landed Jovana Popovic

[BRS24]

How UConn landed Jovana Popovic

When the Huskies announced the signing of the 2026 Serbia guard last Thursday, the news came out of nowhere.

www.uconnwbbweekly.com

When UConn announced the signing of 2026 Serbia guard Jovana Popovic last Thursday, the news came out of nowhere. She’d never been mentioned as a potential target for the Huskies, never posted about a scholarship offer from the coaching staff, never got spotted on a visit to campus. ​

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That, Geno Auriemma admitted after UConn’s win over Utah, was partly by design. ​

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“We've known about Jovana for quite some time,” he said. “It's always delicate over there (in Europe) when kids are on these club teams and there's contracts that they have with these teams, and then they're in school. It can get in the weeds. It gets complicated.”​

 

[oldude]

While I appreciate Geno’s comments, he doesn’t really provide much insight. How did she first get on UConn’s radar? Who recruited her and did they travel to Serbia to meet Jovana and her family? Was she somehow connected to former UConn players from Eastern Europe: Nika, Dorka, Anna? Did she secretly visit UConn or is she coming to Storrs sight unseen?

At some point, I am sure the full story will come out about Jovana’s recruitment in one of the CT newspapers. But until that time, inquiring minds want to know?

Geno is playing it close to the vest. He’s got a resource in Eastern Europe who’s tipping him off on talented young players who are interested in playing in the US. We may never know who that individual is. But I’m guessing it’s Keyser Soze. 😎

 

[WiseWillie]

Wow, you have brought back memories of the mysterious con man Keyser Soze played by Kevin Spacey in the movie "The Usual Suspects". Great flic. Geno wearing sunglasses sitting next to Keyser in the shadows of a sidewalk cafe somewhere in Italy to elicit basketball talents is the making of another great movie. Wonder if Scorsese or Tarantino would be interested.

 

[Cuango]

If what we see on our roster is the result, I’m happy for Geno to keep his secrets.

 

[Sifaka]

 

[Kaizen]

 

[FanFromMaine]

While I appreciate Geno’s comments, he doesn’t really provide much insight. How did she first get on UConn’s radar? Who recruited her and did they travel to Serbia to meet Jovana and her family? Was she somehow connected to former UConn players from Eastern Europe: Nika, Dorka, Anna? Did she secretly visit UConn or is she coming to Storrs sight unseen?

At some point, I am sure the full story will come out about Jovana’s recruitment in one of the CT newspapers. But until that time, inquiring minds want to know?

Geno is playing it close to the vest. He’s got a resource in Eastern Europe who’s tipping him off on talented young players who are interested in playing in the US. We may never know who that individual is. But I’m guessing it’s Keyser Soze. 😎

Another name from my distant past! Wonderful…

 

[RockyMTblue2]

2 little quotes I like:

" Playing at UConn is a big dream for a lot of those kids now,” the coach explained.

“I like the way she plays,” Auriemma said. “She's tough, she can score… an awful lot of things that I value, she possesses.”

I'm guessing she will rapidly become a crowd favorite if she is like a Nika with more scoring. Me likey that.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

And she has the Diana bun and appears fearless. So there is that too.

 

[reelfan]

The group of suspects is large as many former UCONN players do play in Europe.

 

[PacoSwede]

Popovic is likely to draw some comparisons to Mühl, a native of nearby Croatia — but with more offense.

ERROR ALERT:

connolly perpetuates the falsehood that if you don't put the ball through the hoop you don't contribute offence. that is clearly false and a writer should not be fostering misperceptions. why not be accurate and say "x" is does not shoot much, which does not equal an offensive deficit -- do not assists, steals, offensive rebounds, etc. boost offense?

just a peeve of mine. language really counts. it can really change people's take on reality.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Popovic is likely to draw some comparisons to Mühl, a native of nearby Croatia — but with more offense.

ERROR ALERT:

connolly perpetuates the falsehood that if you don't put the ball through the hoop you don't contribute offence. that is clearly false and a writer should not be fostering misperceptions. why not be accurate and say "x" is does not shoot much, which does not equal an offensive deficit -- do not assists, steals, offensive rebounds, etc. boost offense?

just a peeve of mine. language really counts. it can really change people's take on reality.

@PacoSwede, you are certainly entitled to your perspective; however, I do not think that Daniel Connolly saying that “Popovic is likely to draw some comparisons to Mühl, a native of nearby Croatia — but with more offense” is an affront to the great value that Nika provided to her team during her tenure.

I hope that we are past the point where every time Nika’s name is mentioned (or frankly, any Husky that did not average double-digits in scoring), it sparks a ten-page debate on the forum.

This thread is about Jovana Popovic. I can’t wait until she arrives with her fellow 2026 recruit(s) to see what she does in a UCONN uniform.

 

[cabbie191]

View attachment 113814

I don’t know why but this picture immediately brought to mind the lines spoken by the Dennis Nedry character in Jurassic Park: “Dodgson! Dodgson! We got Dodgson here! See, nobody cares.”