Draft:2024–25 UConn Huskies women's basketball team

2024–25 Big East women's basketball standings The 2024–25 UConn Huskies women's basketball team represent the University of Connecticut (UConn) during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Huskies, led by Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma in his 40th season at UConn, split their home games between Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on their campus in Storrs, Connecticut, and the XL Center in Hartford. UConn is a member of the Big East Conference, which it rejoined in the 2020–21 season; it had been a member of the original Big East Conference from 1979 through 2013, and one of the original women's basketball teams in that conference in 1982.

Previous season
UConn was ranked second in pre-season polls, but lost three early non-conference games and several key players to injury by midseason. The Huskies went undefeated in Big East conference play and the post-season conference tournament, anchored by previous All-Americans Aaliyah Edwards and Paige Bueckers. Both players were selected to 2023–24 All-Big East and All-American teams; point guard Nika Mühl was an All-Big East selection and completed the season as UConn's all-time career assist leader. The Huskies entered the NCAA tournament seeded third in their bracket, but emerged victorious with Bueckers awarded most outstanding player. The Caitlin Clark-led Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Huskies in their Final Four contest, a match watched by a record 14.4 million ESPN college basketball viewers. UConn ended the season 33–6, ranked #3 in both polls. Both Edwards and Mühl were selected in the 2024 WNBA draft.

Departures
The Huskies graduated senior starters Aaliyah Edwards and Nika Mühl from the 2023–24 roster, and both were drafted into the Women's National Basketball Association. Two undergraduates chose to enter the transfer portal after the NCAA tournament, senior Amari Deberry and sophomore Inês Bettencourt.

Incoming transfers
The Huskies added Kaitlyn Chen, a graduate student who transferred from Princeton University. While at Princeton, Chen was the 2023–24 Ivy League Player of the Year and was two-time All-Ivy First Team. She has one year of eligibility remaining.

Recruiting class of 2024
On December 3, 2022, UConn received a verbal commitment from five-star guard Allie Ziebell. Fellow five-star guard Morgan Cheli committed to UConn soon after. In November 2023, ESPN ranked the Huskies' 2024 class as the sixth-best in the country. On April 6, 2024, the #1 player in the class of 2024, five-star forward Sarah Strong, also committed to UConn.

Coaching
Hall of Fame head coach Geno Auriemma and Hall of Fame associate head coach Chris Dailey returned for their 40th season. Assistant coach Jamelle Elliott was a UConn assistant coach from 1998 to 2009 and returned after a nine-year head coaching stint at Cincinnati. Assistant coach Morgan Valley was the head coach of the Hartford Hawks when hired by the Huskies. Elliott and Valley are both former UConn players. Tonya Cardoza, another former Huskies assistant, returned to UConn in June after serving as Temple's head coach for 15 years. In June 2023, UConn announced Ben Kantor was promoted to assistant coach from his previous staff position serving as the team's video coordinator since 2015. Auriemma comes into the 2024–25 UConn Huskies with 1206 victories as head coach.