To start a new thread, the 2023-24 season ended two victories short of another championship due primarily to three season long factors - lack of depth, not enough of big players, and being torched by quick guards. Despite these problems, in reaching the Final Four and having the game taken out of the team’s hands by the refs, UConn excelled and gave us a great deal of pleasure with its triumph over adversity.
We all know the reason for lack of depth - three straight seasons with a series of crippling injuries. And this season was the worst with the loss of five players (plus DeBerry at season’s end). Four of them at least who would have been significant parts of the rotation were not on the court, missing all or most of the season. Just think how different game results might have been if just two of the five were available - Jana and Griffin or Jana and Fudd or Griffin and Ducharme. UConn, of course, was not the only team in the nation to suffer casualties. TCU was so shorthanded in January that the team had to forfeit two games and Notre Dame’s rotation was down to just six players.
Most of us realize that a season-long weakness was the lack of solid big players. The team needs at least two and we only had one. Highly touted Ice Brady did really not fill the need, although she had a handful of good games at the end of the season.
The team has been vulnerable to quick guards the entire season. To cite two examples, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and JuJu of Southern Cal. Nika Muhl was not quick enough and KK Arnold was not experienced enough. Nika, however, did a magnificent job against Caitlin Clark and Clark did not beat us.
After having seen these problems, can we expect better times in 2024-25? Both Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl are turning pro. Little used Amari DeBerry and Ines Bettencourt have entered the transfer portal. Sarah Strong, the biggest get among high school seniors, is coming to Storrs. The team has two scholarship openings available. Although one might think that thirteen players would be enough, but with the UConn’s recent history of disabling injuries, I agree with many others that we need at least one player from the portal.
Paige and Aubrey Griffin will be returning, although Aubrey may not be ready when the season begins. We have three signees for next season - shooting guards Allie Ziebel and Morgan Chelli who has been injured for part of the season and may be damaged goods when she arrives on campus, and all everything Sarah Strong. Even without oft injured Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme who may never return to good health, the team should be well covered with guards. The returning healthy bodies consist of Bueckers, Shade, Arnold, Samuels, and Brady. Allie Ziebel also appears to be healthy, it is probable that Jana will be ready to go at the outset, and Stong seems to be ready to go. All the rest are health question marks at least for the beginning of next season, so that gives us eight healthy players.
Center and power forward are also question marks. We cannot be certain that any of the returnees - Jana, Ice Brady, Aubrey Griffin (when she is able to to play), or Ayanna Patterson will fill the bill. Geno, however, thinks very highly of Jana. Ice Brady had two good games in the BE tournament and two in the NCAAs, so there are grounds for optimism that she will continue to improve. For a solid chance for a return to the Final Four, the team needs one more front line player. The announcement on Saturday, April 6 that Sarah Strong is coming to Storrs, provides reason for optimism, but she is a 4 and not a 5. The Huskies may be better off than it was for this past season, but still the team could have extreme difficulty against big and strong rebounding teams like South Carolina and LSU. I expect that Geno and staff are looking closely at the portal for a healthy center or power forward, whether a graduate with one remaining year of eligibility or someone with three years of eligibility. As has been pointed out, South Carolina in particular recruits waves of big, strong, and athletic players. The Huskies may well need at least one more big body to hope to emerge victorious in future matchups.
As for the problem of being beaten by quick guards, no solution is apparent, although Arnold, Bueckers, and Shade are solid defensive players. If the other two deficiencies can be overcome, the team should be able to manage this third difficulty.
We all know the reason for lack of depth - three straight seasons with a series of crippling injuries. And this season was the worst with the loss of five players (plus DeBerry at season’s end). Four of them at least who would have been significant parts of the rotation were not on the court, missing all or most of the season. Just think how different game results might have been if just two of the five were available - Jana and Griffin or Jana and Fudd or Griffin and Ducharme. UConn, of course, was not the only team in the nation to suffer casualties. TCU was so shorthanded in January that the team had to forfeit two games and Notre Dame’s rotation was down to just six players.
Most of us realize that a season-long weakness was the lack of solid big players. The team needs at least two and we only had one. Highly touted Ice Brady did really not fill the need, although she had a handful of good games at the end of the season.
The team has been vulnerable to quick guards the entire season. To cite two examples, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame and JuJu of Southern Cal. Nika Muhl was not quick enough and KK Arnold was not experienced enough. Nika, however, did a magnificent job against Caitlin Clark and Clark did not beat us.
After having seen these problems, can we expect better times in 2024-25? Both Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Muhl are turning pro. Little used Amari DeBerry and Ines Bettencourt have entered the transfer portal. Sarah Strong, the biggest get among high school seniors, is coming to Storrs. The team has two scholarship openings available. Although one might think that thirteen players would be enough, but with the UConn’s recent history of disabling injuries, I agree with many others that we need at least one player from the portal.
Paige and Aubrey Griffin will be returning, although Aubrey may not be ready when the season begins. We have three signees for next season - shooting guards Allie Ziebel and Morgan Chelli who has been injured for part of the season and may be damaged goods when she arrives on campus, and all everything Sarah Strong. Even without oft injured Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme who may never return to good health, the team should be well covered with guards. The returning healthy bodies consist of Bueckers, Shade, Arnold, Samuels, and Brady. Allie Ziebel also appears to be healthy, it is probable that Jana will be ready to go at the outset, and Stong seems to be ready to go. All the rest are health question marks at least for the beginning of next season, so that gives us eight healthy players.
Center and power forward are also question marks. We cannot be certain that any of the returnees - Jana, Ice Brady, Aubrey Griffin (when she is able to to play), or Ayanna Patterson will fill the bill. Geno, however, thinks very highly of Jana. Ice Brady had two good games in the BE tournament and two in the NCAAs, so there are grounds for optimism that she will continue to improve. For a solid chance for a return to the Final Four, the team needs one more front line player. The announcement on Saturday, April 6 that Sarah Strong is coming to Storrs, provides reason for optimism, but she is a 4 and not a 5. The Huskies may be better off than it was for this past season, but still the team could have extreme difficulty against big and strong rebounding teams like South Carolina and LSU. I expect that Geno and staff are looking closely at the portal for a healthy center or power forward, whether a graduate with one remaining year of eligibility or someone with three years of eligibility. As has been pointed out, South Carolina in particular recruits waves of big, strong, and athletic players. The Huskies may well need at least one more big body to hope to emerge victorious in future matchups.
As for the problem of being beaten by quick guards, no solution is apparent, although Arnold, Bueckers, and Shade are solid defensive players. If the other two deficiencies can be overcome, the team should be able to manage this third difficulty.