Juhász to be honored in second Senior Night
Dorka Juhász looked straightforward as a highlight reel of her first year competing for UConn women’s basketball played on the big screen inside Gampel Pavilion. She watched while holding a bouquet of flowers.
Paige Bueckers and Piath Gabriel stood to the right of Juhász, their faces hidden behind tissues and puffy eyes. Nika Mühl and Aaliyah Edwards stood to the left of the graduate forward, both also red-eyed from crying and holding tissues to their faces.
The Huskies had only played with Juhász for a little less than a season last spring on Senior Night, yet in that short time the transfer from Ohio State had become family.
And while she didn’t tell anyone yet, Juhász knew then she wasn’t done with UConn.
Juhász, UConn’s first player from Hungary, will take part in her second Senior Night as a Husky this week. Whether it was watching the team play for her after her wrist injury or becoming a vital point in the Huskies’ frontcourt this season, she’s solidified herself as a fan favorite in the two years she’s been in Storrs.
On Monday, in front of a Gampel Pavilion home crowd, her parents — including her mom, Hajnalka Balázs, who first showed her what was possible with basketball — will finally get to experience in person the deep appreciation the Husky team and fanbase have for Juhász.
“It’s just the picture-perfect ending that they’re able to make it,” Juhász said.
Juhász came to college as the No. 12-ranked international player in the Class of 2018 despite tearing her ACL in her final year in high school. She dreamed of playing basketball on the highest stages and knew attending college in the United States was the first step.
As a 17-year-old, she moved from Hungary to Ohio. She played her first three collegiate