STORRS – When Olivia Vukosa walked into the Werth Family Center for practice every day this summer, she would look up at the faces of the UConn women’s basketball All-Americans and national champions on the wall.
Though she is only a freshman for the UConn women’s basketball team, she was not intimidated by the array of superstars staring down at her.
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“I want to be up there one day. I know I’ll be up there,” she said Wednesday. “I’m just working hard toward that goal.”
Vukosa, a 6-4 center from Christ the King in Queens, N.Y. who was the national Gatorade Player of the Year, said Wednesday that she is ready for the season to begin. The UConn women’s basketball team has been participating in its summer workout sessions and Vukosa said although the play has been more intense than high school, she feels like she is adjusting “pretty well.”
“So far, it’s been really good,” she said. “I’m having a lot of fun. I knew it was going to be tough so I had that mindset coming in. It’s definitely hard but fun.”
Vukosa also said she has no problem following in the footsteps of two Christ the King alums who went to UConn – Sue Bird and Tina Charles.
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“There’s definitely a little pressure,” she said. “But I’m mostly trying to make a name for myself as a kid from Christ the King who went to UConn.”
Ranked No. 3 in the Class of 2026, Vukosa averaged 17.8 points, 18.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 4.4 blocks per game her senior year and led her team to the New York Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) Class AA state championship game, where the Royals lost to St. Mary’s (Manhasset, N.Y.). They did win the CHSAA Tier 1 New York City tournament title.
After that, she had a whirlwind schedule, playing in the McDonald’s All-American game in Phoenix at the Final Four, then the Nike Hoop Summit in Oregon followed by the Jordan Brand Classic in California and the Chris Brickley Invitational in Chicago in early May.
After all that, she took two weeks off from basketball for a well-deserved break.
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“I spent time with friends and family,” she said. “Worked out here and there but not too much basketball. Just trying to be a kid for a little bit.
“It’s what I needed especially coming into the first five weeks of college basketball all the time.”
Vukosa was happy to find herself as a roommate of junior guard Kayleigh Heckel, a friend and fellow New Yorker.
“We were saying we always wanted to play with each other and it ended up happening and we ended up being roommates,” Vukosa said. “So a full circle moment for us.”
On the court, she said she’s figuring out where she belongs with the other post players, Jana El Alfy and Gandy Malou-Mamel.
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“I think it’s just trying everything out right now and seeing what fits best with Jana and Gandy,” Vukosa said. “There’s a lot of us, we’re trying to figure out where we’re all going to maneuver on the court.”
She said El Alfy has been a mentor to her, “especially since we play the same position. She has all the answers for me right now.”
Vukosa wants to study biological sciences, on a pre-med track. She would like to be a pediatrician some day.
She also didn’t shy away from addressing the challenge of balancing a difficult academic program with competing in a high-level college basketball program.
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“I think I’m ready to take on whatever it is,” she said.
She said that UConn coach Geno Auriemma has a similar approach as her coach at Christ the King, Bob Mackey.
“It doesn’t feel like I’ve left Christ the King, it feels very similar,” she said. “They were always hard on us at Christ the King and they’re hard on us here and that’s what I need as a player and that’s why I ended up coming here – to be pushed all the time. To my limits. Past my limits. I think these five weeks has helped me a lot.”
The one thing she needs to work on, she said, is her stamina but again, she was confident that part of her game would get better.
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“It’s something I’ve been trying to improve on since I’ve been here,” she said. “Auriemma)’s always telling me to push and to run and to keep moving on the court and I think I’ve gotten better than that in this short time.
“I approach the game with confidence and I always want to make a statement on the court, whether it’s offensively or defensively or just being a vocal leader. Those are things I’m working on this whole summer.”
