UConn has finalized its 2025-26 women’s basketball roster, officially filling its last scholarship spot with USC transfer guard Kayleigh Heckel, who joined the Huskies on Tuesday.
This marks the second consecutive offseason that UConn has added a backcourt player to bolster its ball-handling depth. After bringing in Princeton’s Kaitlyn Chen last year, the Huskies now welcome Heckel, a Port Chester, New York native, who enters as a sophomore with three years of eligibility remaining.
Ranked No. 13 in the 2024 recruiting class, Heckel played her freshman year at USC, where she averaged 6.1 points, 1.9 assists, and 1.3 steals in just under 17 minutes per game. At UConn, she is expected to serve as the backup point guard behind KK Arnold and provide crucial support as a primary ball-handler. Without her, the Huskies would have had to lean on Azzi Fudd, Morgan Cheli, or Kelis Fisher — none of whom are natural point guards — to back up Arnold, leaving the team exposed if Arnold were sidelined.
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Although UConn didn’t heavily pursue Heckel out of high school — her top choices were Alabama, Stanford, Tennessee, and USC — she’s now returning to the East Coast to join the program.
Heckel’s addition also marks a shift in UConn’s recent transfer trends. Before this offseason, the Huskies had only added graduate transfers, including Chen, Lou Lopez Sénéchal, Dorka Juhász, and Evelyn Adebayo. With Heckel and Serah Williams (a rising senior from Wisconsin), UConn brings in two undergraduate transfers this year.
