Paige Bueckers cooks breakfast for fasting UConn teammate during Ramadan, March Madness

USA Today

24-03-2025

Paige Bueckers cooks breakfast for fasting UConn teammate during Ramadan, March Madness Huskies women's basketball player Jana El Alfy is fasting during the holy month. With help from teammates, she's keeping her energy high while competing in the NCAA tournament
Show Caption
Hide Caption
Hannah Hidalgo explains impact of support in women's basketball
Hannah Hidalgo explains impact of support in women's basketball
It turns out the saying, 'Let Paige Bueckers cook,' has an entirely different meaning this month.
The UConn women's basketball star has taken a significant responsibility to assist a teammate off the court during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Bueckers cooks breakfast for teammate Jana El Alfy in the mornings while El Alfy, who is from Cairo, Egypt, fasts during the 2025 women's NCAA Tournament.
REQUIRED READING: These LSU, FSU superstars used to train together. Now, they're meeting in March Madness
Muslims observe a fast from sunrise to sundown during Ramadan ― from Feb. 28 to March 29 this year. The ninth month of the Islamic calendar is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting, prayer, reflection, and community.
During the fasting hours, Muslims do not eat or drink, even water.
Bueckers has taken on the responsibility of preparing breakfast for her teammate to eat before sunrise, called Suhoor (or Sehri). El Alfy ― who has been fasting since she was 11 ― said Bueckers walked into their apartment with two grocery bags and offered her support through the month.
"That was really, really sweet of her," El Alfy said to the CT Insider. "And it meant a lot because obviously, being away from home, that's tough, and my teammates made it so much easier for me."
Teammates Caroline Ducharme and Allie Ziebell also join El Alfy for her early morning breakfast before sunrise. KK Arnold has already offered to help El Alfy next season when Bueckers is likely off to the WNBA.
Sometimes, Bueckers has to serve as the cook and the alarm clock for El Alfy to make sure she can have her meal in the morning and has the energy to get through the rest of the day. On Sunday, Bueckers had to bang on El Alfy's door before UConn's second-round game vs. South Dakota State.
"I was like, 'Jana, wake up! I didn't make these scrambled eggs for nothing!,'" Bueckers said.
"She makes really good scrambled eggs," El Alfy added.
El Alfy, a 6-foot-5 Huskie center, said she used to spend Ramadan with her family. Usually, the breaking of the fast right after sunset ― called iftar ― would be done as large family gatherings. While she cannot be with family during the basketball season and March Madness, El Alfy will FaceTime her family, even with a six-hour time difference.
El Alfy missed all of last season with an Achilles injury. This is the first year the Huskies' redshirt freshman is fasting while dealing with the demands of playing in March Madness.
"It's definitely tough. It's an important month for me," El Alfy said. "I try as much as I can to fuel whenever it's time to eat and manage it with playing. Obviously, it's hard. It wasn't easy at all. But my teammates really helped with that, and the staff, they were all supportive.
"I feel like I'm blessed and grateful to be surrounded with this group. It's a really, really special group, and they're always asking questions, and they're always like, 'Oh, how are you feeling?' or 'I can't imagine doing that.' … I think I wouldn't have done it or made it this far if it wasn't for my teammates."