As the transfer portal window opened up, UConn saw two players enter. Redshirt Junior Ice Brady and Redshirt Sophomore Ayanna Patterson both decided to enter, according to a report from On3.
Both players faced similar struggles over the course of their Husky careers as they were forced to miss large chunks time due to injury.
Brady missed the majority of this season after appearing in two games before being shut down with “inflammation” in her right knee. She also missed the entirety of her freshman season in 2022-23 due to a right patella dislocation after coming to Storrs as the No. 5 ranked recruit by ESPN.
The peak of Brady’s time wearing the Husky uniform came at the 2024 Big East Tournament. After Aaliyah Edwards was knocked out of the lineup due to injury, it was Brady that stepped up when the Huskies needed someone to fill the gap left. Brady would play 40 minutes in both the Semifinal and Final of the Big East Tournament and leave with an All-Tournament Team honor.
Patterson’s long-term injuries would come after her freshman year. It would be her Sophomore year in 2023-24 and the follow-up Redshirt year in 2024-25 that Patterson would miss in their entirety.
A top ranked recruit in her own right as the No. 4 ranked recruit by ESPN when she stepped on campus in 2022-23, Patterson was never able to fully get her footing. This year for UConn she would see the court in 30 games, including one start. She averaged 1.7 points and 1.4 rebounds per game.
For both of these players it will not only be about finding a place to find the court more often, but also about finding a place that supports them in staying healthy on the court as well.
For UConn, seeing portal action is a rare sight, especially compared to other programs around the country that rely on the transfer portal to reload a roster or even fully revamp it. It has been selective on the way in and limited on the way out for Geno Auriemma.
There will be three scholarship spots available for UConn to work with. They will be able to replace some of the size leaving with Brady from the high school ranks with incoming 6-4 Freshman Olivia Vukosa, who is currently ranked at No. 3 on Sportscenter NEXT 100. Even with that, the option to get active in the portal will certainly be one to be explored.
Over the course of the transfer portal era, which started in 2019, Auriemma and his staff have been able to go out and find players that immediately produced whenever they arrived in Storrs. This year it was Serah Williams from Wisconsin, who started every game she played in this season, and Kayleigh Heckel from USC, who became a regular spark of energy off the bench and looks to take a bigger role this upcoming season. For the 2024-2025 national championship winning team, it was former Princeton guard Kaitlyn Chen to come in and help be an immediately steadying force for the Huskies at the point guard position.
The time to go portalling has arrived for UConn with roster spots available and bad taste in the program’s mouth following the Final Four loss to South Carolina. Auriemma and his staff will be looking to identify and plug any potential holes in the roster as they reset and attempt another run at a National Championship.
