SC Next 100 recruit Vukosa chooses No. 1 UConn

Olivia Vukosa, the No. 3 enlistee successful the girls' SC Next 100 Class of 2026, has committed to UConn, she announced connected Tuesday.

Vukosa is the archetypal 2026 perpetrate for the reigning nationalist champions. She chose the Huskies implicit LSU, Ohio State, Texas and South Carolina.

The Whitestone, New York, autochthonal is simply a existent elder astatine Christ the King successful Queens, which has sent a fig of players to Storrs, including Hall of Famer Sue Bird and Tina Charles. She cites that pipeline arsenic a cardinal origin successful choosing Geno Auriemma's program.

"I person seen manager Mackey and Deluca hole girls for assemblage and seen manager Geno hole those girls for the adjacent level," Vukosa told ESPN. "And galore of these girls person followed the way of Christ the King and UConn and present I privation to travel that legacy.

"Another large origin was UConn's location; it allows my household to travel enactment maine easily, nary substance the crippled oregon time. Ultimately, what sealed my determination was however I felt astir the team. During my visit, the players welcomed maine similar I was already portion of the family, and that consciousness of belonging made UConn genuinely consciousness similar home."

The 6-foot-4 station volition bring years of planetary playing acquisition with Croatia successful FIBA competitions to UConn: She was portion of the 2023 U16 Women's European Championship, 2024 Women's World Cup and astir precocious the 2025 U20 EuroBasket B Division, successful which she averaged 15.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

Vukosa's crippled brings to caput Stefanie Dolson, a two-time nationalist champion with UConn and 11-year WNBA veteran. Both are talented passers and assured ball-handlers. Vukosa has proven herself effectual from beyond the arc, but inactive maintains the quality to station hard and punish opponents connected the block. Her rebounding efforts successful the past calendar twelvemonth person improved tremendously, arsenic she recovered the worth of attacking the violative glass. Defensively, her mobility volition let her to play successful aggregate schemes and strategies portion maintaining the carnal beingness demanded of station players.

Currently astatine No. 3 successful the rankings, she could situation Saniyah Hall for the No. 1 spot by the extremity of the precocious schoolhouse season. Her committedness present takes the apical 4 recruits successful the 2026 people disconnected the board.

The Huskies stay successful the premix for No. 5 Jerzy Robinson and No. 10 Addison Bjorn. The AP preseason Top 25 No. 1 team, they unfastened their rubric defence against No. 4 Louisville connected Nov. 4.