Who’s got next?
With the Huskies ready to celebrate senior night, what might UConn’s roster look like next season?
Senior night annually celebrates a player’s fouryear impact on a program.
The event is about honoring everything from their memories on the court to the meaningful friendships and relationships they’ve developed with their teammates and coaching staff outside of the gym. A night that is meant to celebrate a player’s upcoming new chapter in their professional career.
A tradition each player only receives once in their UConn women’s basketball career … That was until Dorka Juhász did it twice thanks to the NCAA granting players an extra year of eligibility because of the pandemic.
UConn will honor its current four “seniors” — the term is used loosely since only two of the four have actually used fourstraight years of eligibility — when it hosts Georgetown Friday night in Storrs (7 p.m. on SNY).
It’s hard to measure the impact Paige Bueckers, Aaliyah Edwards, Nika Mühl and Aubrey Griffin have had on the Huskies. There was Bueckers winning National Player of the Year as a freshman, both Edwards and Mühl setting program records and, of course, all the historic wins over the past few seasons.
But like Juhász, all four have eligibility available after this season and could just as easily have a second Senior Night next year.
Edwards, Mühl and Griffin each have one more year to use if they chose, while Bueckers has two because of her medical redshirt year last season. None of the four have yet to officially state whether they’ll chose to use their extra eligibility and return next season or if they plan to forgo the ex
tra year and start their professional careers by declaring for the WNBA Draft.
But with UConn’s already stacked roster next season and at least two incoming freshmen, there won’t be enough scholarship space for all four to return unless there is movement with other players.
The four seniors may announce their plans on Friday, or they could wait instead until the end of the season to do so.
What are the possibilities for the 2024-25 Huskies? As Senior Night approaches, the decisions of the four players makes UConn’s future intriguing.
WHERE SENIORS STAND
While she hasn’t said anything officially, all signs hint that Bueckers will return to Storrs next season. The redshirt junior, who is an academic senior, wants to win a national championship. She also wants to play a full season with friend and teammate Azzi Fudd , who is out this year with a knee injury.
Bueckers emphasized last month she thoroughly enjoys playing with UConn. She’s only had, including this season, two full years of college ball due to her previous two knee injuries.
While her historic National Player of the Year freshman season is enough to put her on any WNBA scout’s priority list, Bueckers knows the more healthy seasons of college basketball she can show scouts the better. She would be a top-2 pick this year as Iowa’s Caitlin Clark is expected to go No.1 overall to Indiana. And Bueckers could also be the No. 1 pick in 2025 if she returns to UConn.
Plus, the income she’s making through her NIL deals will only carry over into her professional career.
“I think that’s what it’s all about,” Bueckers said in January. “It’s not about teams in the draft, who’s got what pick. It’s about me loving playing here and me loving my teammates and wanting to get more experiences and more time with them and more time in the program. And so that’s, I think, the deciding factor: just wanting to be here longer and not anything necessarily that’s already picked and chosen in the draft.”
Edwards and Mühl have yet to comment on their futures. Both have played four full years of collegiate basketball and have impacted the program greatly. Edwards was named a Third Team All-American last season and will likely earn AllAmerican honors again this year as UConn’s most consistent and dominant force in the frontcourt. Mühl has developed into one of UConn’s most productive point guards of all time. She owns the program’s single-game and single-season assist records and is No. 6 on the all-time assist career list (only 62 from taking over the No. 1 spot).
Both Mühl and Edwards have enough talent to be drafted and make a WNBA roster (Edwards is projected as a top-10 pick in this year’s draft). On the other hand, if they return, their roles next season would be very similar to what they are now. Edwards would be UConn’s go-to post player, yet she’d have more options coming off the bench to help. Mühl would be the in exact same position she is now, sharing ball handling duties with Bueckers and KK Arnold.
Griffin’s case is a little different. The fifth-year graduate student was expected to leave after this season. But after tearing her ACL in early January, there’s been indications she may return. Griffin entered the 2023-24 season already with an extra year of eligibility since she sat out 2021-22 due to back surgery. She does not get any additional eligibility with her latest knee injury.
If she does leave for the WNBA, no matter where she gets drafted, Griffin would most likely sit out the entire WNBA season recovering since most ACL injuries have a recovery timeline of nine to 12 months. If she returns for a sixth year at UConn, she most likely wouldn’t be healthy enough to play until December or January, which would only give her a couple months to get adjusted before the postseason.
It’s also important to note that while the 2024 WNBA Draft Class is stacked with top talent, majority of the likely firstround picks all have one more year of collegiate eligibility because of the pandemic. Clark is projected to go No. 1 overall if she chooses to declare this year instead of returning. Bueckers and Edwards’ position in the draft likely wouldn’t change too much between this year or next.
“I think if everyone came out, it (the 2024 Draft) could be one of the stronger classes in recent memory,” one WNBA assistant general manager told CT Insider on the condition of anonymity. “And there are some potential star level players. A lot of post players, especially if Clark or Paige go back. I think it’s pretty post heavy. But it’s exciting, definitely an exciting draft class.”
Mock drafts originally had Bueckers going No. 3 to Phoenix, but the Mercury traded the pick to Chicago. And Seattle traded the fourth pick to Los Angeles.
ROSTER CONSTRUCTION
The Huskies have 15 total scholarship spots and, as of Thursday, two incoming freshmen for next season.
Currently, the team has 14 players on the roster. Not all four seniors can return since that would put UConn one over the scholarship limit.
Fudd and Caroline Ducharme (out for 2023-24 due to head injuries) have both stated they intend to come back next season after recovering from their individual injuries. Jana El Alfy (Achilles) and Ayanna Patterson (knee) are also expected to return following their season-ending injuries this season too.
A source confirmed to CT Insider that UConn has interest in Princeton senior point guard Kaitlyn Chen, who is already in the transfer portal since the Ivy League does not grant graduate students a fifth year of eligibility.
Chen is currently averaging 15.8 points, a 49.1 field goal percentage, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 34.2 minutes per game. She was named the 2023 Ivy League Player of the Year and last year’s Most Outstanding Player in the Ivy League Tournament. Also, she’s coached by former Husky Carla Berube.
Adding a player from the portal would indicate at least two seniors are leaving. Of course, UConn could also lose current players to the transfer portal, which would free roster spots.
The Huskies are also waiting on Class of 2024 No. 1 overall recruit Sarah Strong to decide her future. Strong is reported to have UConn among her final choices along with South Carolina, Oregon and Louisville.