Latest news with #KayleighHeckel
Yahoo
21-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UConn women's basketball transfer Kayleigh Heckel selected to Team USA for U19 FIBA World Cup
UConn women's basketball sophomore Kayleigh Heckel was named to the final 12-player Team USA roster that will compete in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup this summer, marking her first selection to a World Cup team. Heckel, a 5-foot-9 guard from Port Chester, New York, played her freshman season at USC and signed with the Huskies out of the transfer portal on May 26. She previously competed for USA Basketball in the 2024 U18 FIBA AmeriCup, where she won a gold medal alongside UConn sophomore Sarah Strong. Heckel was the second-leading scorer for the U.S. in the AmeriCup averaging 12.8 points in 21.2 minute per game plus 3.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists. Advertisement The U19 World Cup runs from July 12-20 in Brno, Czech Republic, where Team USA will look to bring home a fourth consecutive gold medal and 11th all-time in the event. The team begins group play against South Korea on July 12, and it will also face off against Israel and Hungary in Group A to advance to the knockout rounds. The U.S. has reached at least the championship game in 10 straight U19 World Cups dating back to 2005, and it has only lost once during that stretch, to Russia in 2017. Heckel is one of four players on the World Cup roster with collegiate experience alongside Texas guard Jordan Lee, Florida guard Alivia McGill and former UCLA forward Zania Socka-Nguemen, who transferred to Indiana this offseason. Lee and McGill also played with Heckel at the U18 AmeriCup. Indiana coach Teri Moren will lead the squad with Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey and South Florida coach Jose Fernandez serving as assistants. Heckel was the No. 13 prospect in the Class of 2025, and averaged 6.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 17 minutes per game during her freshman season at USC. She is just the fifth player UConn has signed out of the transfer portal since it was established in 2019, and her signing also marked the first time that coach Geno Auriemma added multiple transfers in a single offseason during the portal era. Former Wisconsin forward Serah Williams also signed with the Huskies as they look to defend their NCAA Championship in 2025-26.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UConn Turns Heads with Big Announcement on Thursday
UConn Turns Heads with Big Announcement on Thursday originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The UConn Huskies, led by head coach Geno Auriemma, have been widely considered one of the best women's college basketball teams in the nation over the past several years. Advertisement Auriemma recently led UConn to the national title with the help of college basketball stars Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. After the season, UConn lost its leading scorer and one of the best guards in the country in Bueckers, who was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft. While Fudd will seemingly take over as the team's leader, UConn added one of the best transfers in the college basketball scene during the offseason. Former USC Trojan Kayleigh Heckel, a highly touted recruit, is headed to play for the Huskies next season. Before then, UConn announced that Heckel will be participating in the USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team trials. Advertisement "Kayleigh Heckel will participate in the 2025 USA Basketball Women's U19 National Team trials," posted the official social media account of the UConn Huskies women's basketball team. Heckel will be heading to Colorado Springs, set to begin team trials on June 18. Upon the release of the announcement, some fans took to social media, sharing their thoughts on the achievement by Kayleigh Heckel. "YAYY GOODLUCK K9," said one fan. "LFG! Good luck, K9," said another fan. "Let's go," mentioned one fan. "Best of luck k9," commented one fan. "Let's gooooooo," said one fan. "Good luck kayleigh!!" said another fan. UConn Huskies head coach Geno Lee-Imagn Images During her freshman season with the USC Trojans, Kayleigh Heckel posted 6.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game, starting seven of 34 games in her introductory college basketball season. Advertisement Related: Mike Krzyzewski Names Best Player in Duke Basketball History Without Hesitation Related: Big UConn Announcement Turns Heads on Wednesday This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
USA Today
04-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
USC women's basketball loses Kayleigh Heckel to transfer portal as roster churn continues
USC women's basketball loses Kayleigh Heckel to transfer portal as roster churn continues Kayleigh Heckel joins Avery Howell in hitting the transfer portal. The next few weeks will be very busy. Less than 48 hours after USC women's basketball's season came to an end with a loss to UConn in the Elite Eight, freshman Avery Howell announced that she will be entering the transfer portal. As it turns out, however, Howell will not be the only Trojan departing the program, as she was quickly joined in the portal by Kayleigh Heckel and Aaliyah Gales. Gales was a relatively unsurprising departure. After redshirting as a true freshman, she has averaged under 7 minutes per game each of the past two years, appearing in just 24 total contests. It seemed as though Gales was never truly able to carve out a role for herself in head coach Lindsay Gottlieb's program, so it makes sense that she is choosing to look elsewhere. Heckel, however, is a much more surprising entrant. As a true freshman this year, she averaged 16.9 minutes and 6.1 points per game. With the Trojans graduating three of their five starters and superstar Juju Watkins likely set to miss significant time with an ACL injury, Heckel, like Howell, appeared poised to player a major role next season. With both players gone, however, USC's roster is now full of question marks heading into the offseason. Assuming Watkins is not healthy to start the year, the Trojans will return just one player who averaged more than three points per game in 2024-2025: Kennedy Smith. Expect Gottlieb to attack the portal hard this offseason as she looks to add players who can keep the program competitive while Watkins recovers from her injury.
