Fairfield transfer Lou Lopez Sénéchal fitting right in with UConn women’s basketball, embracing new challenge

When Lou Lopez Sénéchal entered transfer portal from Fairfield this spring, she was looking for a challenge and step up in competition for her last year of college eligibility. She expected high level schools to reach out, but if she’s being completely honest, UConn wasn’t on her radar. She didn’t think a program of that caliber would be interested.

Lopez Sénéchal was excited when UConn did contact her, and the school quickly became her top priority. Once she visited campus with her family, who flew in from her native country of France, the decision “was a no-brainer.”

But even now, a few months later with the Huskies in the midst of summer workouts, Lopez Sénéchal says she occasionally finds herself in disbelief that she’s actually part of the prestigious program. After all, she and her stepdad were the ones reaching out to schools with emails and videos during her high school recruitment — at the time she was attending a basketball academy in Ireland — not the other way around.

“Sometimes I think about it twice,” Lopez Sénéchal said last week. “Every time I step in the building, I feel very fortunate. … I don’t want to take for granted anything, and it’s a great opportunity for me.”

As surreal as this all seems to Lopez Sénéchal, it’s just as clear to her coach Geno Auriemma and teammates that she fits right in with the Huskies program.

“She’s exactly what I thought she’d be,” Auriemma said.

In discussing his approach to picking up Lopez Sénéchal in the transfer portal, Auriemma is quick to point out that his program doesn’t operate like most in today’s era of college basketball.

“To our detriment, probably, we’re not one of those schools that has one assistant coach dedicated to the portal and calling AAU coaches around the country and saying, ‘Hey, is your kid happy? Do they want to transfer?’” Auriemma said. “The transfer portal for us is, generally speaking, something that happens where kids graduate … and they’re looking for another opportunity to go do something different. Some kid that’s just leaving after one year or two years because they’re this dissatisfied with their situation. I’m always a little bit leery about that.

“So that’s our philosophy. If there’s somebody out there that we think fits who we are and what we’re doing and fills a need, that we think can help our program, and that’s where we landed on Lou.”

Lopez Sénéchal averaged 19.5 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists in her senior season, leading the way for the Stags as they made their first NCAA Tournament appearance in 21 years.

Auriemma said the way she played and the way she was coached by Joe Frager, who retired after 2021-22, aligned with the way things are done at UConn. He thought it was “a perfect fit.”

Once Lopez Sénéchal committed to UConn on April 23, numerous coaches and broadcasters who had seen her play reached out to Auriemma to tell him how good she’d be for the Huskies. So did Fairfield athletic director Paul Schlickmann.

“‘In my 32 years of being in college athletics, I’ve never met a finer kid, a more competitive kid, a more engaging kid, a great teammate. And she’s tough as hell,’” Auriemma recalled Schlickmann telling him.

Lopez Sénéchal has lived up to those expectations so far.

It’s been a fast transition. Lopez Sénéchal came to Storrs right after her Fairfield graduation a few weeks ago. She’s gotten to know her new teammates and grown more comfortable around them, whether it be through team workouts, going on outings to the lake and New York City, or just hanging out in their apartments. She’s also been doing individual workouts with Paige Bueckers.

“I’m definitely learning a lot from her,” Lopez Sénéchal said of Bueckers. “... What you see on TV, I saw it here and it’s real. She’s really good. She’s really talented. So I’m very excited to just get to know her more on the court, off the court and learn from her. … I’m definitely very excited to play with her during the year.”

In team workouts, the biggest adjustment for Lopez Sénéchal has been the attention to detail and the offense, particularly the pace. Fairfield ran a much slower offense.

“It’s less set plays,” Lopez Sénéchal said. “It’s something that I like and I haven’t really had the chance to have in a long time, so it’s a good transition.”

Auriemma hasn’t yet determined what Lopez Sénéchal’s specific role will be. She’s been one of only around five players doing full workouts on a daily basis, so it’s hard to gage how she stacks up with the rest of the team. But he has seemed pleased with her performance so far.

“Right now she fits in great,” Auriemma said. “... Come October when we start really working with our whole team, I think we’ll get a better idea. But you know me, I value kids that can play a lot of different positions and are skilled, and they can pass, they can catch, they can dribble, they can shoot — you know, I have an affinity towards those guys. So we’ll see.”

Lopez Sénéchal played the forward position at Fairfield, but she’s listed as a guard/forward on UConn’s roster. At 6 feet 1, she’s expected to play more on the perimeter than inside the post, especially after shooting 40.9% from 3-point range last season.

“I’m going to embrace any role that I have,” Lopez Sénéchal said. “There’s other great, talented players here, so I don’t have one specific idea … I’m just learning a lot from my teammates. That’s something that I really want. So whatever role I’ll have, I’ll take it and I’ll learn from it every day.”

Whatever role that ends up being once the 2022-23 season rolls around, the Huskies are optimistic about Lopez Sénéchal’s future in Storrs.

“She’s been great. She’s a very outgoing person. She’s very social. … Everybody likes her,” forward Dorka Juhász said. “I’ve been seeing her working out, and she’s just perfectly fitting into it as a person, but also as a player. She’s a very hard worker. She wants to win. She wants the challenge. So I think she’s going to be a great contribution to our team.”