Should UConn Fans Worry About Olivia Vukosa's Shooting?

· Yahoo Sports

Olivia Vukosa led all players in points, rebounds, blocks and efficiency through group play at the FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament, which culminated Monday.

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And when the UConn freshman center returns to Storrs, Conn., in a couple of weeks, her coaches likely will have watched the film and will have seen both outstanding play and areas where they can help a prized prospect to grow.

Team Croatia (0-3 in Group D) tied for the worst record in the group stage of the competition – used for seeding – and will face Spain (3-0 in Group C) in the single-elimination round in Stockholm, Sweden. A Croatia victory would be a stunner, and Vukosa and her team likely will be done after the game against defending champion Spain on Wednesday.

Croatia recorded single-digit losses to Latvia (72-64) and Poland (85-76), and was crushed Monday (93-51) by Serbia in group play.

The Spaniards, ranked second in the world, won their three games by an average of 43.0 points per game; Croatia, ranked 19th, dropped its games by an average of 19.7 points.

Born in New York, Vukosa also has Croatian citizenship and has played on that country’s national team since 2023.

Vukosa tournament-to-date summary

In the final group-play game, Vukosa scored 25 points – nearly half of her team’s total – and was the only Croatian player in double figures.

But she didn’t arrive there the conventional way.

In 34 minutes on Monday, she was just 5-of-17 from the field. The rest of her points came from the foul line, where she made 15-of-16 free throws (93.9%). Auriemma and staff clearly won’t have to work on that skill.

But near-perfection at the line didn’t translate to sparkling shooting from the floor (37.3%) or from beyond the 3-point line (15.4%) in the group stage of the tournament.

Through group play, Vukosa led the 16-team tournament in scoring with 27.7 points, 16.3 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game. Her efficiency – a statistic that considers both offensive and defensive performance – also topped the field at 30.3 per game, well above the other women in the top three: Sofia Zuccon of Italy (21.7) and Zuzanna Marczynska of Poland (20.3).

Is her shooting percentage a cause of concern?

Certainly not yet.

For Croatia, Vukosa is the best player on the team, with the offense running through her.

That is not going to be the case when she settles into the offense at UConn. She will not be the star with a supporting cast. Instead, the teenager is expected tp play a key role in Sarah Strong’s supporting cast.

And it's a very strong group of players with exceptional skills from the 3-point line. Vukosa will not be the first option for an deep shot. With her dominant rebouding ability, expect a lot of her points to come from inside.

As for Strong, the national Player of the Year in the 2025-26 season should return healthy after a lingering Achilles injury that she suffered in the summer of 2025. She was held out of team workouts earlier this summer to give her body some time off to recover.

"[We decided] it would be the best decision for me to take care of any aches and pains that I have and focus on getting healthier and stronger," Strong told ESPN in mid-June. "It's definitely been good, I feel like my body needs it. Just trying to get healthier for next season."

Strong said then that she had begun individual workouts.

All of the responsibility at the center position also will not fall to the freshman, either. Vukosa is one of three 6-foot-5 options at the position. Jana El Alfy, a junior, who has 28 starts in her 75 games at UConn, and sophomore Gandy Malou-Mamel also are on the UConn roster.

From Christ the King High School in Middle Village, N.Y. -- the same school that produced UConn greats Sue Bird and Tina Charles -- Vukosa led her team to the Catholic High School Athletic Association state championship game as a senior. She was the 2025-26 Gatorade National Girls Basketball Player of the Year, as well as a 2026 McDonald's and Jordan Brand All-American.  

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