The UConn women’s basketball team has added some key depth at the guard position. Former Princeton guard Kaitlyn Chen announced her commitment to UConn on Instagram Sunday with the caption “One more year of fun with @uconnwbb.”
Chen, the 11th-ranked player in Charlie Creme’s ESPN transfer rankings, earned Ivy League Player of the Year honors in 2023 and was a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American this past season. The San Marino, California, native was the leader on a Princeton Tigers team that won three straight Ivy League Tournaments.
Chen won Ivy League Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors each time. The two-time First Team All-Ivy selection played in three NCAA Tournaments with the Tigers, where they went 2-3 with back-to-back first round wins in 2022 and 2023. Princeton went 25-5 this past season and earned a share of the Ivy League regular season title with a 13-1 conference record.
Prior to her time with the Tigers, Chen was a three-year captain at Flintridge Preparatory School and the No. 66 recruit in ESPN HoopGurlz’s Class of 2020 rankings. She holds the school’s all-time record in points, rebounds and assists.
The five-time Ivy League Player of the Week averaged 15.8 points, 4.9 assists (both of which led the team), 1.3 steals and 3.5 rebounds per game last season for Princeton. Similar to two-time Big East Player of the Year Paige Bueckers, Chen is someone who does not take many bad shots. The California native made 48.8% of her 389 attempts, the fifth-highest rate in the Ivy League.
Her 67 three-point tries from downtown do not do enough justice to her shot selection; Chen can let it fly from anywhere on the floor. She may have recorded just 99 steals and 16 blocks in her three-year collegiate career, but on a team with six-time Big East Freshman of the Week KK Arnold, that might not be too much of a concern.
Almost no one on her previous team could match what the 2023 Ivy League Player of the Year brings when it comes to her assists, however. Chen had three different 10-assist performances and another 12 where she recorded at least five last season. Her 147 dimes ranked in the top 100 nationally and were tied with Vanderbilt’s Jordyn Cambridge for 75th in Division I basketball. When the California native cannot find a good shot, she is consistently going to pass the rock to her open teammates.
Chen has also shined against top-tier opponents in her career. Only two players between both the Huskies and the Tigers had more points than the two-time First Team All-Ivy League selection’s 18 when they battled at Gampel Pavilion in 2022. Against the then-No. 2 UCLA Bruins this past season, Chen scored more points than any individual on either team at Pauley Pavilion.
CHEN'S POTENTIAL IMPACT IN STORRS
Like Lou Lopez Senechal did two years ago, Chen should be able to compete for a starting position from the first day of practice. As a point guard, the California native is expected to fill the hole left by second-round draft pick Nika Mühl.
Although she might not put up the assist numbers that Mühl did during her four-year career, Chen will still deal out dimes at a high rate. The WBCA Honorable Mention All-American averaged 1.6 fewer assists than the two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year did at 4.9 across 30 games as a senior. Having another guard that can set up scoring plays beyond Arnold and Bueckers is significant for the team’s backcourt depth.
Chen also makes the leap from one guard-heavy team to another. Unlike Princeton, however, UConn also possesses a dangerous frontcourt. Sure, replacing first-round draft pick Aaliyah Edwards in the starting lineup will be no easy task; Edwards was one of six players in program history to have 1,000+ points and 1,000+ rebounds.
With the likes of No. 1 recruit Sarah Strong, graduate student Aubrey Griffin and Big East All-Tournament Team selection Ice Brady, however, finding that replacement should not be difficult. Having a variety of players that she can feed in the post should elevate Chen’s overall game to the next level.
The Huskies’ last two transfers, Lopez Senechal (from Fairfield) and Dorka Juhasz (from Ohio State), earned All-Big East honors and played a pivotal role throughout Connecticut’s 2022-23 campaign. The same may be in store for the Princeton transfer during her final collegiate season next year.
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