UConn head coach Geno Auriemma likes what he’s seen so far from Kaitlyn Chen and Sarah Strong, who are each expected to fill the roles left by Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards.

Incoming transfer Kaitlyn Chen and top recruit Sarah Strong have big shoes to fill at UConn, but Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma is confident that the two newcomers are up to the task.

Following the WNBA departures of star players Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards, Auriemma searched far and wide for possible replacements to add to UConn’s 2024-25 roster. He ultimately landed on Chen and Strong, two players that possess vastly different backgrounds but equally impressive skills.

“You try to think, ‘This is what I think we need. And this is the person that I think fills that need.’ And you just hope you’re right. That’s it,” Auriemma said on Wednesday, per Connecticut Insider. “And I think we get it right more times than we get it wrong. And these kids that we have this year, I think we got it right man.

“Just watching them work out, being around them every day, I think we got it right. I think we got it right last year, and I feel really, really good about where we are right now.”

Chen first flashed on Auriemma’s radar during the 2022-23 season while playing at Princeton. Against No. 6 UConn on December 8, the 5-foot-9 guard nearly powered the Tigers to an upset victory over the Huskies, recording 18 points, two rebounds and a game-high seven assists in her team’s eventual 69-64 loss.

“I just thought she had complete control of the game,” Auriemma said of Chen, who averaged 15.8 points, 4.9 assists and 1.3 steals per game last season. “The way Carla [Berube] wanted them to play and make big shots and [she] was like a presence on defense. I just kind of followed her after that game. And then obviously, you know, [had] conversations with Carla a lot about what kind of kid is she.”

Kaitlyn Chen first gained Geno Auriemma’s attention when Princeton played UConn in December 2022 ( Image: Rebecca Gratz/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
While on an official visit to the UConn campus this spring, Chen and her family exemplified the exact trait that Auriemma was looking for this offseason in recruits and transfer players: selflessness.

“Just I mean [she was] everything I could have hoped for,” he said. “Just how down to earth they were, how normal they were. It wasn’t like, ‘Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.’ Kaitlyn said very, very little about anything other than appreciative of her career at Princeton, appreciative of Carla’s coaching, appreciative of the opportunity to come on campus, and ‘I want to challenge myself.’ Not like, ‘I’m this. I’m that. I’m going to do this. I’m gonna do that. Blah, blah, blah, blah.’

“You can tell a lot about when a kid visits by how little their parents talk about their kids. That’s when you know you got something pretty good. As a matter of fact, with Kaitlyn at breakfast, we talked more about her sister than we did about her. … Just everything fit.”

Joining Chen this season is Strong, who comes to UConn as the highest ranked recruit in the Class of 2024. During her senior year at Grace Christian Sanford, the 6-foot-2 forward averaged 21.0 points, 16.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.8 steals per game.

Ahead of Strong’s first collegiate season, Auriemma praised the incoming freshman for her versatility and willingness to take on whatever role she’s asked to play.

“I think the best players are the ones that go, ‘Coach, I can fill any position you want me to play. Just put me in that spot, put me on the court, and I’ll figure it out,’” he said. “And she’s that kind of kid. I can put her anywhere.”