SOUTHINGTON — With UConn women’s basketball, as with any other team, it’s always one door opens, one door closes, and for other doors, you have to wait.
So Coach Geno Auriemma was in his office as players began gathering on campus over the weekend, getting the first glimpses of next year’s team. “I was really curious to see what it looks like, because every year is totally different,” he said.
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One positive look was junior Morgan Cheli, who has been out a year and a half recovering from ankle surgery.
“She’s doing great,” Auriemma said Wednesday, as he was leaving the UConn Coaches Road Show at Kinsmen Brewing Company. “She’s worked really, really hard. She’s had a tough go of it, trying to get back on the court. It’s been a long time since she’s played, but I think she’s good to go. She looks great. The more I watched her late in the season doing some individual (drills), it kind of reminds you of all the different things she could do.”
Cheli, 6 foot 2, who has always brought high energy and enthusiasm to her game, was contributing off the bench as a freshman, playing in 21 games, averaging 13.3 minutes, 2.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists before getting hurt. She had surgery in February of 2025, but did not make it back to the court last year, redshirting instead.
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A highly-decorated recruit, McDonald’s and Jordan Brand All-American, gold medal winner with USA Basketball’s under-17 team, she could have the chance to be an impact front court player now that she is healthy and practicing from the start of summer sessions. Meanwhile, Blanca Quinonez, last year’s freshman sensation, will be out another month recovering from her shoulder surgery. Among newcomers, two from overseas are yet to arrive; Jovana Popovic from Serbia is expected at the end of the week, Auriemma said, and things are still being worked out for Marine Dursus, who signed in May, to get here from France.
“Blanca’s not going because of her surgery,” Auriemma said. “So we lost Blanca for the month of June, but we got Morgan Cheli, so it’s typical UConn. We can’t have everything we want, you trade one for the other.”
Auriemma was referring to the many injuries that kept the roster from being intact between 2021 and ’24.
Players began arriving on campus Saturday, and began summer classes on Monday.
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“I’m fortunate,” said Auriemma, 72. “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.”
The offseason
Auriemma lamented there is no more offseason to coaching at this level. “There is no offseason, that’s the problem,” he said. “There is no offseason, there is no, ‘just put it away and pick it up down the road.’”
Since UConn’s loss to South Carolina in national semifinals, the winningest coach in the sport’s history, with 12 NCAA titles, has stayed mostly close to home as he puts things together for his 42nd season. He did get to Berlin, Germany to see UConn alum Sue Bird inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, and thought it was “really cool” to see German-born NBA star Dirk Nowitzki inducted there.
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Auriemma plans to see Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd play for the WNBA’s Dallas Wings in New York July 7, but is not yet sure he will be in town to see them play the Connecticut Sun in Hartford on July 2.
International scene
Auriemma has been turning to the international scene to recruit players, with Popovic, Dursus, Quinonez and Jana El Alfy currently on the squad. He has often traveled to Europe to see players, but the pro club teams there often grabbed the top players. Now, more are coming to play at U.S. colleges.
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“You’re to see a lot more of those kids coming here,” he said. “They are a little bit older in a lot of ways, their level of play is way ahead, their experiences are varied, they pick things up quickly because they’re playing with 30-year-olds. “If they’re right fit, right ones, you have to be constantly be aware of who’s out there.”
Assistant coach Morgan Valley brought it to Auriemma’s attention that Dursus was available.
During the Coaches Road Show program that included men’s basketball GM Tom Moore, new football coach Jason Candle and softball coach Laura Valentino, Auriemma addressed the program’s championship-or-bust expectations and loss to South Carolina, ending hopes for a seventh undefeated season, and player of the year Sarah Strong, who will be a junior.
“What sticks with her, we lost,” Auriemma said. “That’s probably what’s going to drive her this coming year, more than ‘I was national player of the year, and I have to prove that again.’ No, it’s ‘We lost and I have to prove I can win.”
“… It’s OK every once in a while to come up short. It’s no disgrace, it’s no embarrassment, it’s another opportunity to learn.”.
