Geno Auriemma returns into the website and includes solid
Former University of Southern California guard Kayleigh Heckel revealed her dedication to the UConn women’s basketball group on Tuesday, filling the Huskies’ last readily available scholarship area for the 2025-26 season.
Heckel, a 5-foot-9 guard from Port Chester, New York, selected UConn after she also supposedly took sees to Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. She visited Storrs along with Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams in late April, and Williams signed with the Huskies days later Might 2. Heckel’s commitment marks the very first time coach Geno Auriemma has signed multiple transfers in a single offseason considering that the portal was developed in 2019.
Heckel was the No. 13 possibility in the Class of 2025, however UConn wasn’t a factor in her recruiting process out of high school. She picked USC over a leading four that included Alabama, Tennessee and Stanford, and the Trojans brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country featuring six top-100 players. Heckel averaged 6.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 takes in 17 minutes per game during her freshman season. She was a McDonald’s All-American in her secondary school season, where she played along with UConn’s freshman phenom Sarah Strong on Group East.
Southern California guard Kayleigh Heckel (9) drives the ball toward the basket as UConn guard KK Arnold (2) defends during the first half in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball competition Monday, March 31, 2025, in Spokane, Wash. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) Adding Heckel offers the Huskies extra depth in the backcourt in 2025-26 following the departure of superstar guard Paige Bueckers. Rising juniors KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade are poised to enter beginning roles after coming off the bench in 2024-25, and UConn likewise signed top-25 point guard Kelis Fisher to its incoming freshman class.
Heckel is just the 5th player UConn has actually signed out of the website because it was established, but the Huskies have a 100% hit rate on inbound transfers so far. Dorka Juhasz concerned UConn after 3 years at Ohio State and started 44 games over two years, balancing 14.2 points plus 9.9 rebounds in her last season. Fairfield transfer Lou Lopez Senechal played almost 32 minutes per game in her lone season with the Huskies, leading the team in 3-point portion and averaging 15.5 points. Kaitlyn Chen was the current example in 2024-25, starting all 40 games and shooting a career-best 51.4% for UConn as a graduate transfer from Princeton.
Just one UConn player, sophomore guard Qadence Samuels, got in the website in 2025 after averaging less than 6 minutes last season.