Editor's Note: Muhl announced her commitment on 4:08pm.
TAMPA, FL -- Nika Muhl had a good idea of where she wanted to play college basketball. The 5-foot-10 point guard from Croatia narrowed her list of offers down to four schools and began to work her way to a decision. Then she got an email from an unexpected sender: UConn women’s basketball.
“I was in shock,” Muhl said. “I thought someone was joking with me.”
No, it was really Geno Auriemma’s Huskies interested in recruiting her, the team she loved growing up and knew everything about. The same place her favorite player, Maya Moore, went to school.
“I knew so much (about UConn). I followed them since I was little,” Muhl said. “That was actually my dream club when I was little. I followed them, always watched Geno’s videos, late night shows, watched the games, so yeah, I think I knew pretty much everything about them.”
Despite deciding on her final four of Louisville, Ohio State, Oregon and USF, that list expanded by one to include UConn. Muhl said she will make her decision in the next month or two but will visit all her schools before doing so. While the class of 2020 recruit is planning to come to Storrs on an official visit, no date is set as of the Final Four weekend.
Auriemma flew out to Croatia after the AAC Tournament to visit with Muhl and watched her play on Saturday in Tourney Town at the Final Four in the NBA Academies Women’s Program. Muhl didn’t know Auriemma was in the stands.
“Honestly, I didn't see him. He told me he was going to be here but I didn’t see him but I’m definitely honored,” she said. “I feel blessed to have him come over to watch me, that means a lot to me. It shows me how much my work has given me. My work has shown me why he has come here...I’m thankful for that.”
With offers from two of the teams in the Final Four, Muhl is certainly talented. But with information on her limited as European player, she gave a scouting report of herself.
“I think I’m pretty unselfish, sometimes even too much, and I really think I’m good at making other people around me better,” she said. “Passing the ball, court vision, I think I found myself in that and I’m doing that good.”
However, Muhl disagrees that on the notion that she’s good.
“I wouldn’t say I’m good yet, I think I need so much more work to say I’m good but I think I’m on the right path,” she said. “I think I need to work on everything, especially my shooting. I think that’s the biggest problem for me. But I think everything is a few levels up that I can achieve.”
There are a lot of factors for players to take into consideration when deciding on a school, but Muhl said her biggest focus is finding somewhere where she feels comfortable.
“The stuff that’s most important to me right now is team chemistry. I think I have top five schools that I’m interested in, I think their game fits me, I fit into their games,” she said. “Team chemistry and relationship with the coach -- I think those are the two things that are most important to me right now.”
After the 2019-2020 season, UConn will have just five scholarship players returning. The 2020 recruiting class is setting up to be a big one for the Huskies and securing Bueckers and Muhl before the summer would be a great start for Auriemma and Co. while also allowing them to turn their full attention onto the building the future of the front court.
