UNCASVILLE – The college basketball career of Olivia Vukosa, the latest highly-rated recruit for the UConn women’s basketball team, is underway.
Sort of, anyway. With a smooth showing in the Huskies’ exhibition victory over Syracuse Monday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, Vukosa at least got down to moving around in a new uniform, working with new teammates, adjusting to a new level, performing for a crowd.
That’s what it’s all about in the fall – getting to see these players instead of looking at their list of accolades and wondering how good they’ve been in high school and how good they can be in college.
Vukosa, a 6-foot-5 center out of Christ the King in New York, was the national Gatorade player of the year for a reason – because she’s more than a physical presence. She showed a nice touch on her first basket Monday night, a reverse layup after taking a pass on the baseline from Ashlynn Shade, and an even better touch in the second quarter, when she scored inside with her left hand. Next, she drove, posted up and spun to her right hand for a bank shot off the glass.
Vukosa played 18 minutes, making 4 of 8 shots and finishing with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
It was very encouraging. Will she be the next great thing at UConn and/or in college basketball? We’ll see in the coming months and years. She sure has a lot of tools to work with. That much is clear.
UNCASVILLE, CONNECTICUT – OCTOBER 12: Jaleesa Molina of the Syracuse Orange and Olivia Vukosa of the Connecticut Huskies go for the loose ball during the second half of the NCAA women’s exhibition basketball game at Mohegan Sun Arena on October 12, 2026 in Uncasville, Connecticut. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images) (Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)
The season opener isn’t until Nov. 2 against Cornell and Monday’s exhibition was little more than a highly-organized practice and/or the sort of contest that, in another era, took place behind closed doors.
Syracuse, of course, isn’t the best team that UConn will face this season.
And a game in October, in areas of pressure and opportunity, don’t line up even marginally with a game in March.
But Monday’s wasn’t entirely meaningless, either.
Vukosa checked in with 1:39 remaining in the first quarter, replacing Morgan Cheli and leaving behind and offseason of prep work, the bulk of which had to do with endurance, strength and conditioning. In college, a player can’t show off all she has to offer if she can’t keep up.
“The biggest change is conditioning wise and learning how to treat herself as a college player, rather than a high school player,” coach Geno Auriemma said leading into the game. “We gave her a lot to do over the summer, working out, how you’re going to train, and nutrition and recovery – all the things that young players are kind of new to. And she came back and changed her body and looks great in an environment where, every day, that’s what we’re spending a lot of time on.”
“I knew it was going to be hard,” she said. “And that’s exactly what it was.”
If the hardest part is onboarding, it’s out of the way.
Vukosa has come a long way, but still has a ways to go.
“She just has to embrace the physicality of it,” Auriemma said. “She’s spending too much time playing girls high school basketball rather than college women’s basketball. So she’s getting friendly nudges every day about that. I’m giving her the Philadelphia shove, the City of Brotherly Shove. I’m giving her a little bit of a shove.”
Olivia Vukosa poses during UConn media day on October 5, 2026 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Photo by UConn Athletics/University Images via Getty Images) (UConn Athletics/University Images via Getty Images)
“Even growing up, I’ve always needed someone to yell at me, just to get me going, and I think he’s definitely been doing that,” Vukosa said. “So it’s helped a lot.”
Vukosa met the media for the first time in July, and did so with her back to a mural of recent champions, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd among them. She had a lot to say that day.
“I get to walk into Werth every day and see all the faces on the walls and the champions, and I want to be up here one day,” Vukosa said. “And I know I’m going to be up here.”
When I saw Auriemma at an event days later, I said, “Your new kid, Olivia, she doesn’t lack confidence.”
“She lacks endurance,” Auriemma joked.
The project had just begun. Vukosa wasn’t nearly as chatty in her media session this week. But she seems to have been operating at warp speed, behind the scenes, to prepare for the moment at hand. She worked closely with strength coach Andrea Hudy to develop a plan that would make her more agile, faster. She watched what she ate both in Storrs and back home in Whitestone, N.Y. She lost weight. She’s noticeably slimmer than when she arrived. I don’t know if she’s faster than she was because I had never seen her play before Monday, but she does not look slow.
And she didn’t look nervous, even if she expected to be.
She looked ready to play college basketball at a high level.
And you start to think … imagine what she’ll be capable of in January, in March … or in 2027, in 2028 … and beyond.
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