The UConn Daily Digest: A New Era Dawns for College Sports

Welcome to this week’s UConn Daily, and thank you for being a subscriber. 

You can also find our work in Storrs Central, the UConn Blog on SB Nation, the UConn WBB Weekly, UConn Hockey Hub, Hook C Baseball, and Husky Football Forum newsletters! Please consider sharing or supporting our work!

From basketball to football to hockey, we’ve got you covered with all the recent happenings and storylines from in and around Storrs. 

Headlines

Judge Claudia Wilkins approves House vs. NCAA Settlement 

It took a while, but the House vs. NCAA settlement was approved on June 6. Multiple delays — including Wilkins’ refusal to rule in April, citing concerns over the fates of current walk-on athletes — pushed the final hearing into the summer. Nonetheless, it has passed, and a new era of college athletics begins. 

Here are the details: 

• Direct pay-to-play: Universities can now directly compensate their athletes. Each institution is capped at $20.5 million in spending for the first year of a 10-year window that Wilkins opened through her ruling, though the cap will increase gradually over time. 

• Revenue sharing and backpayments: Not included in the $20.5 million cap is the money universities will pay former athletes who opted into the settlement to be compensated for their name, image, and likeness. A total of $2.8 billion will be paid out to those athletes by the NCAA and the Power Five conferences (SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and the PAC-12). 

• Scholarship limits banished, replaced by roster limits: With current walk-on student athletes grandfathered in, roster limits will take the place of scholarship limits. 

UConn opted into the settlement, and per a release from director of athletics David Benedict, will pay its athletes $18 million this year with a plan to hit the $20.5 million cap in the near future.

While some suggest Big East schools may have an advantage in hoops because they don’t need to allocate any of their revenue towards football, it seems unlikely that the SEC or Big Ten would surrender the advantage that has been sustaining their disproportionate power over the last decade. You do not ever need to take Ross Dellenger seriously. Just look at how he describes UConn in the article where he presents his theory with limited evidence.

Read the full release on the settlement update and what specific implications it will have for UConn athletics here. 

The House Settlement: A Turning Point for NCAA, NIL, & What It Means (Storrs Central)

Fast Break Pod: Let’s Have an Offseason Hype Cycle

Recruiting and a slew of exciting non-conference matchups has us plenty excited for the upcoming men’s hoops season. Based on what we know so far, we have reason to believe that Dan Hurley’s squad will be “quite good” while the rest of the Big East, once again, lags behind overall.

Football: Huskies reach nine high school commitments 

After the first weekend of official visitation and recruiting yielded three high school comittments, the UConn football team added six more commitments last weekend. UConn’s 2025 recruiting class consisted of 12 players total, though the 2026 class is quickly approaching that number. 

The new kids in town are as follows, including links to their Storrs Central recruiting profiles. 

• Delano Brown, Defensive End

• Westen Ard, Linebacker

• Liam Fuller, Tight End

• Cason Dash, Defensive Back

• Malichi Greaves, Running Back

• Jayden Jones, Defensive End

Baseball: Transfer-mania 

Roster fluctuation was inevitable for UConn’s baseball program, who failed to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. There was a quick turnaround between the team’s final game (May 24) and the opening of the transfer portal (June 2). The first taste of what the portal can bring, but also take away, became apparent in the days that followed. 

So far, UConn has lost four players to the portal: three pitchers and one position player. But, the team has nearly regained that total on the opposite end, bringing in three newcomers. 

Right-handed pitchers Thomas Ellisen, Jude Abbadessa, and Cole Taylor will all search for new opportunities, all with varying time spent with the program. Ellisen cemented himself as a reliable weekend starter in his third season with the Huskies, spending his first two as a reliever, but now departs with one remaining year of eligibility. Abbadessa spent three seasons in Storrs but played just two, missing all of 2024 with injury, while Taylor never saw the mound during his freshman season. He took a redshirt and will have a full slate of eligibility wherever he winds up. 

The only position player currently known to be in the portal is the only player of the four to have found his next destination. Rising senior and utility-man Aidan Dougherty slashed .333/.417/.447 in 46 games with UConn, now returning to his home state to play for the University of Washington. 

On the receiving end, head coach Jim Penders and his staff have hit the position player pool heavily. Rising junior AJ Soldra leaves his team but not his conference, making his way to UConn from Seton Hall. He put his speed on full display last year, stealing 13 bases and hitting seven triples as a primary centerfielder. With Caleb Shpur and Sam Biller graduating and Dougherty on the way out, Soldra will have the entire fall to fight for a starting spot. 

A second outfielder, Chris Polemeni, spent two seasons with Division II College of Staten Island. He hit .366 in 89 games, blasting 20 home runs. In 2025, his OPS was nearly 1.200 (1.186).

The final transfer is Evan Menzel, whom UConn saw with its own eyes in a May series against his former program in Maine. The Black Bears lost all three games, but Menzel impressed with four hits in the series, including a double and a home run. 

Weekly Rewind

Women’s Basketball

Kayleigh Heckel invited to USA Basketball U19 trials – The USC transfer will put UConn’s summer workouts on pause while she competes for a spot on the USA Basketball’s U19 National Team. 

UConn women’s basketball’s trip to USF set for Dec. 3 – The Huskies are 34-0 all-time against the Bulls. 

Mailbag Part One – Starting lineup predictions, TV deal discussion, best newcomers and more.

Mailbag Part Two – Behind-the-scenes stories, including most memorable game and favorite player to cover for author Daniel Connolly. 

Sarah Strong named to USA 3x3 World Cup team – Strong has already captured the U18 3x3 World Cup gold medals in 2022, 2023 and 2024. 

Weekly Newsletter: The stories of UConn’s season – Retracing the path of UConn’s national championship run through the stories that told it along the way. 

Football

Block C Builds on Recruiting Momentum with Six New Additions – UConn has now reached nine total high school commitments through two weekends of visits. 

Through two weekends of visits, UConn football reaches nine high school commits – The Huskies keep stacking their young core. 

UConn Huskies 2025 Football Team Preview - G5 ($) – Including key players to watch, coaching insights, and a complete season outlook for 2025. 

Blockbuster Recruiting Weekend, Part III: The Huskies’ Latest Targets ($) – Thirteen potential prospects came to town this past weekend. 

Hockey

More dates out on UConn men’s hockey schedule – A Connecticut Ice title defense begins Friday, Jan. 23 in a first-round matchup against Yale at the Bulldogs’ Ingalls Rink in New Haven. 

Baseball

Four baseball players announce intent to transfer – Thomas Ellisen and Aidan Dougherty headline the list of names leaving Storrs. 

If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing it with a friend or two - it would mean a lot to us!

Be sure to follow The UConn Blog on social!

• FACEBOOK

• INSTAGRAM

• X

• TIKTOK