UConn women's notebook: Cheli looks like perfect fit for Huskies

Apr. 7—Archbishop Mitty High girls basketball coach Sue Phillips is familiar with what UConn coach Geno Auriemma looks for in a recruit.

Phillips coached Huskies' three-time All-American Katie Lou Samuelson with USA Basketball in 2013-14. At Archbishop Mitty — located in San Jose, California — she coached Class of 2020 No. 1 recruit Haley Jones, who UConn recruited hard before she chose to attend Stanford. She is currently working with incoming UConn freshmen guards KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade as Team USA prepares for Saturday's Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon.

So Thursday's announcement that her current star at Archbishop Mitty, junior Morgan Cheli, had committed to Auriemma and the Huskies came as no surprise.

"She grew up playing with her dad in her yard and dreaming of going to UConn and winning a national championship," Phillips said Thursday. She's an outstanding player and person, completely gracious in her approach.

"And she's an unbelievable competitor. She chose UConn to go into that competitive environment with Coach Auriemma. Whatever they want her to do, she'll be a contributor and successful in that role."

Cheli — a 6-foot-2 guard from Los Altos, California — made her decision public in an Instagram post Thursday. Among her reported offers were from Stanford, South Carolina, and UCLA.

She is rated the No. 18 recruit in the junior class by ESPN and joins Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year and No. 5 recruit Allie Ziebell as UConn 2024 commits.

In her post, Cheli wrote: "The basketball culture that Coach Auriemma, the staff and the players have created is incredible. I'm looking forward to taking this next step with great anticipation."

Cheli missed much of her junior season at Archbishop Mitty with a foot injury but returned in time to help the Monarchs to a third straight Northern California Open Division title. Cheli then had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals in a 69-67 loss to Etiwanda in the state final.

Auriemma traveled to California to watch Cheli play last summer and she made an unofficial visit to UConn when the Huskies played South Carolina on Feb. 5 at the XL Center in Hartford.

"Not to put words in (Auriemma's) mouth, but he's seen her and was impressed with her versatility," Phillips said. "She's a 6-2 point guard and may be still growing.

"She handles the ball well and sees the floor well. She plays hard on both sides of the court. With her height and her athleticism she can be a real problem on defense for the other team.

"She wants to win a national championship and that's what is most important to her."

Cheli has improved year by year.

Last summer she played for Phillips with USA Basketball's U-17 national team that won the gold medal at the FIBA U-17 World Cup in Hungary. She averaged 6.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 3.0 steals as Team USA went 7-0 in the tournament.

"One of the things about the 2024 class is they had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic during their eighth grade and freshman years," Phillips said. "Her sophomore year she really raised her game and was a team leader in rebounds and assists as well as on the floor.

"Last summer I was watching the finalists for the U-17 team and she just balled-out during the trials to make that team. Playing USA Basketball and making a national team and winning a gold medal does a lot for a player's confidence and certainly did so for Morgan. She was able to find even another level."

Cheli will sign her letter of intent in November.

Meeting at Summit

Phillips has enjoyed working with Arnold and Shade since their arrival in Portland for the Nike Hoop Summit.

"I had KK with the U-16 national team two years ago," Phillips said. "She's just a force on both sides of the ball and is driven and vocal.

"Ashlynn is a knock-down shooter and she wants to learn and get better. She'll come up to me and go, 'Coach, can we go look at and study the playbook?' Like KK, very coachable and a joy to be around."

It will be the first women's game for the Nike Hoop Summit, which is being played at Portland's Moda Center on Saturday. The women's game starts at 7:30 p.m. and the men's game at 10 p.m. The doubleheader will air live on NBA-TV.

Sister act in Storrs

Nika Mühl is looking forward to August when UConn will start a three-country European trip with a stop in her hometown of Zagreb, Croatia. The Huskies' point guard now has another date to circle on her 2023 calendar.

Mühl's father, Darko, tweeted today that UConn will entertain Ball State — which features Mühl's younger sister, Hana — on Dec. 6. It will be the third meeting overall (the series is tied 1-1) and the first meeting between the Huskies and Cardinals since UConn recorded a 103-69 win on Nov. 30, 2001 at Gampel Pavilion.

Nika Mühl had a record-setting junior season for UConn (31-6) as she averaged 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 7.9 assists in 36 games played. She set new school single-season standards in total assists (284) and average assists per game (7.9), breaking 21-year-old marks held by Sue Bird. Her 36.6 minutes per game was also a record, beating out Paige Bueckers (36.2). She was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, an all-Big East second-team pick, an AP honorable mention All-American, and a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award as the nation's top point guard.

Hana Mühl played in 33 games off the bench as a freshman for Ball State and averaged 1.2 points and 1.0 rebounds in 9.2 minutes. The Cardinals, out of the Mid-American Conference, finished 26-9 with their season ending with a loss to Memphis in the second round of the WNIT.

McLaren heads East

Kaili McLaren, who helped UConn to back-to-back unbeaten national championships in 2009 and 2010, is back in the Big East.

McLaren was named an assistant coach at Providence, first-year coach Erin Batth announced Tuesday. Batth took over last month after Jim Crowley was let go.

"Kaili is a national champion and I can't wait for her to share her knowledge and experience with our team and staff," Batth said in a statement. "She knows what it takes to achieve success at the highest level of our sport and for us to draw on her experience will be key to our growth. Kaili will play a critical role in the development of our post players and I'm so grateful that she is joining us. She's family oriented and fun to be around and I'm looking forward to working with Kaili and my entire staff as we build our program."

McLaren spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach at UC Santa Barbara (2020-23) and helped the Gauchos claim their first 20-plus win season since 2008-09, finishing at 21-12 and reaching the Big West Conference championship game. Prior to going UCSB, she served as Director of Recruiting Operations and Player Personnel at Maryland during the 2019-20 season. From 2015 through 2018, McLaren served as an assistant coach at Good Counsel High School, her alma mater at which she earned All-America honors and the Gatorade state Player of the Year award.

She played in 144 games at UConn before graduating in 2010 and totaled 566 points, 468 rebounds, and 239 assists. An all-Big East freshman team pick in 2007, she was a key player coming off the bench as the Huskies enjoyed back-to-back 39-0 national championship seasons. McLaren played professionally overseas for a decade in Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Turkey and Australia before going into coaching.

Of note, UConn is 78-0 against teams that have one of Auriemma's former players, assistant coaches, or graduate assistants on their coaching staff.

For coverage of all sports in the JI's 18-town coverage area, plus updates on the UConn women's basketball team and head coach Geno Auriemma, follow Carl Adamec on Twitter: @CarlAdamec, Facebook: Carl Adamec, and Instagram: @CarlAdamec.