UConn women’s basketball secures first Class of 2023 commit in Wisconsin point guard KK Arnold
Monday wasn’t a total loss for the UConn women’s basketball program. Shortly after the No. 2 Huskies fell to No. 1 South Carolina in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game, point guard Kamorea “KK” Arnold announced she has verbally committed to UConn, making her the Huskies’ first commit of the Class of 2023.
Arnold, the No. 8 prospect in the country per ESPN, hails from Germantown, Wisconsin. In the fall of 2023, she figures to join a deep backcourt that’s expected to include then-seniors Paige Bueckers and Nika Mühl and juniors Azzi Fudd and Caroline Ducharme.
“Athletic lead-guard armed with a scorer’s mentality; explosive in transition game, slices through the defense, motors and distributes; explosive 1 on 1 creator with mid-range game delivery that extends to the arc,” a scouting report from espnW said about Arnold.
Baylor, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Marquette, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina and Wisconsin were also listed in her top 12, but Arnold said there were two other schools aside from UConn she was seriously considering.
“What really tipped it toward UConn is the competitive style they have, competitive nature. Especially when I went to go visit. The community was all around you. Even though I wasn’t a player yet, they still came up and said hi,” she said on W7 Productions following her announcement. “Then just overall, when I hung out with the players I felt super comfortable around them. And the coaching staff is really great, one of the greatest coaching staffs around. And of course, I want to be part of something great and something to build my game to the next level beyond college basketball.”
Arnold said UConn was one of her dream schools when she was younger, and she grew up watching former Huskies point guard Moriah Jefferson in particular. A photo posted from her mother later in the day showed a younger Arnold sitting in her room with UConn stickers covering the walls.
Arnold, whom the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel lists as 5 feet 10, led her high school team to the WIAA Division 1 state title and also won gold with USA Basketball at the 2021 FIBA Americas U16 Championship this past summer. As a sophomore last season, she averaged 22.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.8 steals per game and was named the MaxPreps, Associated Press and Gatorade Wisconsin Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
Alexa Philippou can be reached at aphilippou@courant.com .
