Kayleigh Heckel is returning home.
On Tuesday night, Heckel announced via Instagram her commitment to UConn women’s basketball out of the transfer portal. The guard played her freshman season last year in Los Angeles with USC, averaging 6.1 points, 1.4 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 16.9 minutes per game. She joins the Huskies with three years of eligibility remaining.
Heckel was born in Greenwich but grew up just over the border in Port Chester, N.Y. She attended Long Island Lutheran High School as an upperclassman in high school, where she was a 2024 McDonald’s All-American and ranked No. 13 in the Class of 2024 by ESPN. Both of Heckel’s parents, Donna and Walter, were student-athletes at St. John’s, with her father playing baseball and her mother softball. Heckel’s grandfather and great-grandfather both also played minor league baseball.
At Long Island Lutheran, Heckel scored over 2,400 points and more than 500 assists, rebounds and steals. She also recorded 16 triple-doubles and one quadruple-double. Heckel was named the 2023 MaxPreps New York Player of the Year and a two-time MaxPreps and Naismith All-American, and a four-time New York all-state selection. Before her time in Long Island, Heckel attended Port Chester High, where she was a three-sport athlete.
Heckel represented Team USA at the 2024 FIBA Under-18 AmeriCup, where she helped the United States win gold and earned All-Tournament Second Team honors.
With the Trojans last season, Heckel shot 45.9 percent from the floor and 28.6 percent from deep. She recorded five points, two assists and one steal in 12 minutes off the bench on Dec. 21 when USC beat UConn in Hartford at XL Center. About three months later, on March 31 in the Elite Eight in Spokane, Heckel again scored five points with one rebound in 19 minutes in the Trojans’ loss to UConn.
Heckel is UConn’s second addition from the transfer portal this spring, following Wisconsin transfer Serah Williams’ commitment. Both Williams and Heckel took visits to Storrs in late April. Heckel’s addition maxes out UConn’s available roster spots as the Huskies will now carry a scholarship maximum 15 players next season. The guard’s addition boosts UConn’s backcourt depth and provides another ball handler behind junior KK Arnold.
The Huskies begin the season on Nov. 4 against Louisville in the Armed Forces Classic in Germany at Ramstein Air Base in Ramstein-Miesenbach.
