UConn adds zero transfers this offseason. Geno Auriemma confirmed that the Huskies won’t bring in a transfer. The roster returns 10 players from the 2025-26 season. These returners accounted for 73.4 percent of minutes and 68.9 percent of scoring. With the roster returning 10 players who accounted for 73.4 percent of minutes and 68.9 percent of scoring, Geno Auriemma decided the Huskies did not need to add any new players from the transfer portal. Auriemma said that when a program has 90 percent of its team back, few players in the portal want to join. The Huskies also decided that nobody in the portal was worth pursuing in a weaker class.
The decision remains firm.
The program prefers to develop its own talent. Auriemma has only signed five transfers since the portal started. Two of those transfers, Kayleigh Heckel and Serah Williams, arrived this past season. Both players became immediate contributors. Heckel, a sophomore point guard from USC, averaged 6.9 points, 2.8 assists, and 1.4 steals in 18.9 minutes. Williams, a senior center from Wisconsin, started 38 games and averaged 6.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 17.4 minutes.
Roster stability and returning production
The Huskies rely on the production of returning players to maintain their status. The team returns most of the core group that reached the 2026 Final Four. This group includes Naismith Player of the Year Sarah Strong, KK Arnold, Blanca Quinonez, and Ashlynn Shade. The roster is deep, as you already know. The program also brings in freshman Olivia Vukosa to provide depth. Vukosa was the 2024-25 Gatorade New York Girls Basketball Player of the Year. As a junior, she averaged 19.4 points, 17.9 rebounds, 5.5 blocks, and 3.8 assists.
Jovana Popovic joins the team as a freshman. The guard comes from Serbia and played in the 2025 FIBA Women’s Eurobasket. Popovic earned the 2024-25 season MVP and Best Shooter honors in the Serbian First League. She can handle the ball, score, and act as a playmaker.
Blanca Quinonez will likely move into a starting role to replace Serah Williams. Quinonez averaged 10.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.1 assists during her freshman season. She also recorded 20 points and 8 rebounds against Notre Dame in the Elite 8.
Allie Ziebell and Kayleigh Heckel could also join the starting five. Ziebell, a junior, averaged 7.4 points last season and shot 50.3 percent from the field. She scored 34 points against Xavier, including 10 three-pointers, while shooting 73.3 percent from the field. Heckel, a junior, averaged 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 18.9 minutes. She shot 55.1 percent from the field.
High school recruiting and financial investment
UConn invests heavily in its recruiting pipeline. The program spent nearly $640,000 on recruiting expenses in 2025. This amount exceeds the $390,000 spent by Texas, the $290,000 spent by South Carolina, and the $250,000 spent by UCLA. The Huskies have signed 12 top 15 recruits since 2020. This includes three number one recruits: Sarah Strong (2024), Azzi Fudd (2021), and Paige Bueckers (2020).
Auriemma focuses on high-impact recruits to drive program success. Since 2020, the program has prioritized high school players to build long-term stability. The team signed three number one recruits during that period. Will the new additions find success?
The program generates $8.5 million in revenue from the women’s team. This revenue is nearly double what the program earned in 2023. The women’s team also brought in $4.2 million in ticket sales last year. The program sold out season tickets for the first time in two decades. Fans attended 12,375 games per game, which placed the Huskies third in attendance.
Impact of the portal on smaller programs
The transfer portal and revenue sharing change how smaller schools compete. Auriemma said the portal and revenue sharing is the death of the mid-majors. In the 2026 NCAA Tournament, 27 mid-major teams made the field. None of those teams advanced past the first round. One team, Richmond from the Atlantic 10, earned an at-large bid.
Auriemma thinks the transfer portal hurts high school players. He says it is harder for a high school kid to get the same opportunities existing college players already have. When coaches choose between a high school senior and a college sophomore, many pick the sophomore. These players often come from mid-major programs.
Auriemma proposed changing how the tournament selects teams. He suggested the NCAA should not give tournament bids to teams with losing records in their leagues. He argued that more opportunities should go to mid-majors instead of Power Four schools.
Auriemma keeps recruiting.
The game has changed for many programs. More schools have the opportunity to reach the Final Four. The interest in women’s basketball is higher than ever.
Star departures and roster changes
Azzi Fudd leaves the program to begin her professional career. She played five seasons at UConn. Fudd averaged 14.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.7 steals. She shot 42.5 percent from three-point range during her time at UConn.
Serah Williams also leaves for the WNBA. She transferred to UConn last offseason from Wisconsin. During her time with the Huskies, she averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists.
The team also says goodbye to Caroline Ducharme. Ducharme played five years for the Huskies. She averaged 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 17.7 minutes per game. She missed over a year of play to focus on her brain health after multiple concussions.
The roster remains deep.
Ayanna Patterson enters the portal
Ayanna Patterson enters the transfer portal. The 6-foot-2 forward graduated from UConn this year. She was the number four recruit in the class of 2022. Patterson redshirted the 2023-24 season for surgery on patellar tendonitis. She missed the 2024-25 season due to a shoulder injury that required surgery.
Patterson played 30 games in 2025-26, averaging five minutes per game. As a freshman in 2022-23, she averaged 10 minutes in 30 appearances. She told staff on Senior Day that she loved the locker room and the coaching staff.
Patterson is the seventh scholarship player to enter the portal from UConn since 2019. The program has not lost a starter to the portal in the current era. Only one player, Qadence Samuels, left via the portal last season. Samuels transferred to NC State after averaging less than six minutes per game in 2024-25.
Coaching compensation and revenue comparison
UConn spends more on its basketball programs than on its football team. The university spent $34 million on basketball last year. This exceeds the $20.5 million spent on football. The women’s team revenue of $8.5 million is much closer to the men’s revenue of $11.9 million than programs like South Carolina. In South Carolina, the men brought in $15.4 million while the women brought in $6.9 million.
Coaching salaries vary significantly between programs. Auriemma earns $3.54 million annually. He is the second-highest-paid coach in women’s basketball.
| Coach | Annual Salary |
|---|---|
| Dawn Staley | $4.25 million |
| Geno Auriemma | $3.54 million |
| Kim Mulkey | $3.35 million |
| Vic Schaefer | $2.3 million |
Auriemma earns $250,000 for reaching the Final Four. If the Huskies win the national title, he will earn $675,000 total. This postseason bonus is higher than the maximum potential bonus for the men’s coach, Dan Hurley. Hurley earns $250,000 for a Final Four appearance and another $250,000 if the men win the national title.
Program investment and recruitment costs
UConn maintains high spending on its coaching staff. The program spent $1,744,179 on four women’s team assistants last year. This exceeds the $1.1 million spent by both Texas and UCLA on their assistant pools. It also exceeds the $1.8 million spent by South Carolina.
The program prioritizes high-impact recruiting. The Huskies’ spending on recruiting exceeded that of every other Final Four team in 2025. Texas spent $390,000. South Carolina spent $290,000. UCLA spent $250,000.
Auriemma manages the roster through direct development. He has not added many transfers, preferring to sign high school stars. The program has two scholarship spots available for potential portal additions.