Former University of Southern California guard Kayleigh Heckel announced her commitment to the UConn women’s basketball team on Tuesday, filling the Huskies’ final available scholarship spot for the 2025-26 season.
Heckel, a 5-foot-9 guard from Port Chester, New York, chose UConn after she also reportedly took visits to Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. She visited Storrs alongside Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams in late April, and Williams signed with the Huskies days later on May 2. Heckel’s commitment marks the first time coach Geno Auriemma has signed multiple transfers in a single offseason since the portal was established in 2019.
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Heckel was the No. 13 prospect in the Class of 2025, but UConn wasn’t a factor in her recruiting process out of high school. She chose USC over a top 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 steals in 17 minutes per game during her freshman season. She was a McDonald’s All-American in her senior high school season, where she played alongside UConn’s freshman phenom Sarah Strong on Team East.
Adding Heckel gives the Huskies additional 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 step into starting roles after coming off the bench in 2024-25, and UConn also signed top-25 point guard Kelis Fisher to its incoming freshman class.
Heckel is just the fifth player UConn has signed out of the portal since it was established, but the Huskies have a 100% hit rate on incoming transfers so far. Dorka Juhasz came to UConn after three years at Ohio State and started 44 games over two years, averaging 14.2 points plus 9.9 rebounds in her final season. Fairfield transfer Lou Lopez Senechal played nearly 32 minutes per game in her lone season with the Huskies, leading the team in 3-point percentage and averaging 15.5 points. Kaitlyn Chen was the latest example in 2024-25, starting all 40 games and shooting a career-best 51.4% for UConn as a graduate transfer from Princeton.
Only one UConn player, sophomore guard Qadence Samuels, entered the portal in 2025 after averaging less than six minutes last season.
