For most of the 2024-25 season, the UConn Women’s Basketball team relied on three impactful forwards: Sarah Strong, Jana El Alfy and Ice Brady. Aubrey Griffin provided critical depth at the position toward the end of the regular season, especially with Brady dealing with a shoulder injury.
Before the calendar flipped from April to May, the reigning national champions bolstered their ferocious frontcourt through the transfer portal.
Rising senior Serah Williams announced her commitment to UConn via her X and Instagram accounts Wednesday afternoon. Williams, a 6-foot-4 forward who spent three seasons with the Wisconsin Badgers, has one year of eligibility remaining.
“We are absolutely thrilled to have her coming to Connecticut,” head coach Geno Auriemma commented via a press release. “Her experience, her versatility and her ability to play at a really high level on both ends of the floor are going to be a great asset for us. I think as a person, she fits in perfectly with our team.”
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Prior to joining the Badgers in 2022, the All-Canadian All-Star game participant shone in the Ontario Scholastic Basketball Association with Niagara Prep. While in Canada, Williams earned OSBA First-Team All-Star honors and led the league in blocks as a first-year student.
UConn led the nation with just 52.2 points allowed per game during its 12th national championship campaign. The Huskies landed a stalwart who should help them further shut down their opponents, especially in the post. The Brooklyn native rejected 69 shots and grabbed 9.8 rebounds per game as a junior. Williams finished third in the Big Ten Conference in both categories while ranking second in defensive boards (7.3) and blocks (2.3) per game.
What the 6-foot-4 forward did on that end of the floor did not go unnoticed. As a sophomore in 2023-24, Williams captured Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors and earned a spot on the All-Big Ten Defensive Team. Despite not securing a second DPOY award this past season, the junior became the program’s first-ever two-time Defensive Team selection.
But Connecticut also got itself a forward with an offensive game similar to Strong’s. Charlie Creme’s sixth-ranked player in his ESPN transfer rankings led Wisconsin with 19.2 points per game at a 49.3% clip. Only 5-foot-4 junior guard Ronnie Porter, who recently withdrew her name from the transfer portal, had more than Williams’ 73 assists. For comparison, the National Freshman of the Year scored 16.2 points per game on 58.6% shooting with 142 dimes.
No game exemplified what Williams brings to UConn more than the Badgers’ seven-point victory over the Butler Bulldogs at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The four-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week dropped 36 points on 13-26 shooting with 14 rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals.
As for bouts with the Big Ten, Williams’ greatest work came at the Breslin Center against the then-No. 22 Michigan State Spartans. In that contest, the 2025 Big Ten All-Academic Team forward had 23 points, 12 rebounds, three dimes, three steals and a block. Williams also dropped 22 points on 8-15 shooting with five boards versus the then-No. 2 UCLA Bruins.
Next season, the Huskies take on the Louisville Cardinals in Germany, the Tennessee Lady Volunteers at home and the USC Trojans in Los Angeles. The Badgers’ fifth-ever multi-time First-Team All-Big Ten selection is no stranger to delivering against quality opponents. Williams averaged 20.7 points and 8.7 boards in Wisconsin’s six games versus ranked teams (she was the leading scorer in each contest). Across 16 total matchups with programs that participated in the NCAA Tournament, the career 51.5% shooter averaged 18.3 points and 8.4 rebounds.
Williams potential impact in Storrs
With her experience and accolades, Williams will likely grab one of the starting forward spots on next year’s squad. Auriemma could play the 2024 Naismith DPOY Watch List candidate at the four or the five.
If Williams becomes the starting center, she will replace El Alfy, who would then most likely be UConn’s first forward off the bench. But if the fourth-ever player in Marisa Moseley’s first recruiting class gets the starting power forward position, that could change what position Strong plays. The National Freshman of the Year could shift to the center position or become a small forward.
Strong further benefits from Williams’ arrival as she will get more opportunities to develop her three-point stroke. The Big East Freshman of the Year attempted 152 shots from downtown and made 59 of them. With the rising senior regularly attacking the paint, both numbers should drastically increase.
The soon-to-be 41st-year head coach used two primary rotations—his starting lineup and his small-ball lineup—throughout the season. Williams’ 6-foot-4 frame gives Auriemma the ability to run a third unit, a taller one that can stump opponents who win with their size. After all, the Huskies will have four players standing at least 6-foot-2 (five whenever Ayanna Patterson returns) on next year’s roster.
The Badgers’ third-fastest player to 1,000 career points should also smoothly acclimate herself to Connecticut’s unselfish identity. Losing Paige Bueckers and Kaitlyn Chen to the WNBA hurts, but Williams’ vision and quick passing abilities should replace the departing production. She might average just 1.3 assists in her three-year career, but the fifth Husky from a Canadian high school can keep the offense flowing.
UConn’s last two transfer portal additions, Chen (Princeton) and Lou Lopez Senechal (Fairfield), spent their final year of eligibility with the program. Both graduate guards started every game they appeared in and were subsequently drafted into the WNBA.
Williams, a true senior next season, should continue the Huskies’ remarkable pipeline of one-year wonders from the portal. Extending Connecticut’s streak of having multiple draft picks to five straight years feels almost certain with the Brooklyn native on the roster. Should Williams blossom into a WBCA All-American, the Huskies could have multiple first-round selections for the first time since 2019.
Looking more toward the start of next season, UConn should be the preseason No. 1 when the next AP poll comes out in October.
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