HARTFORD, Conn. _ After their 2019-20 season was abruptly cut short with the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament, it's been an offseason full of upheaval and uncertainty for the returning players to the UConn women's basketball team. With stay-at-home orders in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, it hasn't been easy for the players to get into the gym, and their return to campus for summer workouts was delayed nearly two months. But even through all that disruption, the Huskies' four returners _ setting aside Evina Westbrook, who while technically a returner, did not play last season _ still found ways to get better.
Aubrey Griffin played against her brothers. Christyn Williams got in better shape. Olivia Nelson-Ododa worked on her strength and post moves. Anna Makurat trained with the Polish national team and physically transformed herself as well.
Who knows when college basketball will return? But UConn coach Geno Auriemma is already eager to see how his returners build upon their offseason progress for a team that will rely upon every one of them to elevate their play next season.
"They're all better than they were last year," Auriemma told media after the team had been on campus for only two weeks. "Anna's completely different. She looks like a completely different person, completely different player. Aubrey's, like, 100 times better than she was last year. Christyn looks completely different. Liv has a completely different mindset."
After graduating five seniors and losing Megan Walker to the WNBA, the Huskies have no seniors and six freshmen. Thus the team's success next season undoubtedly depends on how well those four experienced returners, plus Westbrook, make the jump and play at a high level consistently.
"You go from freshman, sophomore year _ where you're playing but you're really not a focal point of the team but you know you're important _ to now all of a sudden everybody's looking at you going like, 'Liv, Christyn, Evina, Anna, Aubrey, if you guys aren't really, really good this year, we're going to stink,' " Auriemma said. "So there's this sense (among the returners) of, 'It's my time.'
"And they're embracing it. I love it."
