Freshman Brady Out For Season
The Story: Freshman forward Ice Brady will miss the season after she dislocated her right kneecap, meaning the Huskies will be down another quality contributor with the first regular-season game three weeks away.
WHAT HAPPENED? Brady was injured in practice on Friday, and after the dislocation was diagnosed, she underwent surgery Tuesday to repair the damage. It’s possible she tore the ligament connecting the kneecap to the femur, which would result in a long recovery. UConn didn’t provide any additional details yesterday, but we don’t need them to know how much it sucks.
• The 6-foot-3 native of San Diego was a McDonald’s All-American as a senior and considered the No. 5 player in her high school class by ESPN. She was in line to earn frontcourt minutes behind junior Aaliyah Edwards and redshirt senior Dorka Juhasz.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Brady’s absence leaves the Huskies with just sophomore Amari DeBerry as a backup post presence. DeBerry, who played a limited role last season as she appeared in just 16 games, was the No. 15 player in her recruiting class according to ESPN and has the ability to emerge as a viable option.
• The Huskies will probably also have to turn to some of their taller wings, namely redshirt junior Aubrey Griffin and freshman Ayanna Patterson, to play minutes in the frontcourt. Then again, Geno Auriemma likes playing his starters big minutes, so it’s conceivable Edwards and Juhasz will only be on the bench for a limited time (and now almost certainly never together).
• How snakebitten are the Huskies? In addition to losing Paige Bueckers for the season, they lost Griffin for all of last season and had to weather several other injuries that cost players long stretches of the season. At this point, it’s practically unbelievable.
• UConn’s first game is an exhibition against Kutztown at the XL Center on Nov. 6, followed by the regular-season opener against Northeastern at Gampel Pavilion on Nov. 10.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Anytime any player has an injury, it’s so heartbreaking because they put so much time and effort into being the best player they can be. When that’s taken away — regardless of how long they’re out — to not be able to play is unfortunate. Ice has made so much progress since she’s been here and I’m really confident that when she does come back, she’s going to be better and more impactful than she already has been.”
Morning Reads
• The men’s hockey team, which cracked the top 10 in the polls for the first time earlier this week when it landed at No. 10, is preparing for yet another significant test this weekend when it faces Boston College. (Hartford Courant)
• Jim Mora got sold a bill of goods. Yes, he understood the job ahead of him on the football field, but no one told him that the house UConn put him in is haunted. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
• Frantz Pierrot scored twice as the men’s soccer team knocked off Stonehill 4-0 to move to 7-6-1 on the season. (UConnHuskies.com)
Top photo: Freshman Ice Brady during the “First Night” event at Gampel Pavilion. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
