Dom Amore: For UConn women, the mystery of Jana El Alfy is soon to be revealed

STORRS — Jana El Alfy looked down at her phone, saw the caller was from New York and hesitated.“I didn’t know anyone from New York,” she said. “But I just picked up. It was like, ‘Hi, this is Breanna Stewart. …I was, like … ‘Hi!’”This was shortly after El Alfy ruptured her left Achilles playing in an international tournament in Spain last summer. The long road back was just beginning, and a call from one of her basketball idols provided some direction. Stewart, the reigning MVP in the WNBA, came back from a right Achilles rupture in 2020 and a partial tear surgically repaired in 2022, and for all UConn women’s basketball players, especially front court players, she has set the bar high.“She was really, really sweet,” El Alfy said. “She gave me tips on how to be able to maintain it. She’s an amazing person. She’s my role model, I’ve always looked up to her. My all-time favorite player. When I got that phone call, it meant everything to me. I’d just had my surgery and wasn’t in the best spirits.”From Princeton to Storrs, why Kaitlyn Chen was perfect fit for UConn women’s basketballEl Alfy has continued to text with Stewart, who won four national titles with UConn, two more in The W, another indication of the sisterhood she has become part of in Storrs, and perhaps some indication of how much anticipation is surrounding her debut as a Husky.“It’s weird feeling,” El Alfy said. “I’ve been here the longest, longer than my classmates, and yet I’ve never stepped on the court and played with them. I’ve learned a lot from all the players that were here, Dorka (Juhasz), Aaliyah (Edwards), Nika (Muhl), I feel so lucky I got to come here early and learn from them. I didn’t get to play with them, which was the hardest part, but I got to learn from them.“When I first got here I was very confused, I didn’t know how to get to my classes, school is very different than back home. But looking back, I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m a pro,’ and now I’m helping the freshmen.”Jana El Alfy, 6 feet 5, international woman of mystery, has been on the UConn campus since January 2023, highly visible, and yet her talents have been shrouded. The star of Egypt’s national program since 2021, El Alfy brings all-around skills to the post position, aggressive athletic ability, the basketball IQ of an accomplished coach’s daughter.When she was lost for last season with her injury on July 25, the tenor for what was expected to be a loaded UConn team in 2023-24 changed. Of course, it was the first of another disheartening, yearlong series of injuries for the Huskies, who nonetheless made it back to the Final Four.Now, everyone is back, or getting there. El Alfy’s out on the court participating on most of the activity, going, she estimates, about 80 percent.“She’s a dog,” KK Arnold said, delivering one of the contemporary player’s supreme compliments.  “Like, she’s a dog. She’ll go in, she’s the most aggressive, the pick-and-roll is going to be super lethal this year with her and Ice (Brady) out there.”Jessica Hill/APJana El Alfy has been waiting a year and a half to make her UConn debut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)Patience hadn’t really been part of El Alfy’s skill set, never had to be with her size and ability to go get what she wants on the court. But when she enrolled early, the plan was for her to watch, work and learn behind the scenes, getting her feel for the speed of the game she was about to join. The injury forced her to wait a lot longer, without taking any focus off the arduous task of rehab, although she has, she says, made time to teach associate head coach Chris Dailey the art of crochet.“I’ve been an aggressive person my whole life,” she said. “Once I step on the court, I’m a different person, all I see is the ball. … Being patient was a big thing I learned. I’m not going to get what I want quickly, it needs time. I was on a scooter for a very long time and I was like, ‘I can’t get off that scooter.’ … Then a week later, I’m on crutches. … Then a month later I’m walking, then running. In my head, I was, ‘I can’t wait to be able to play again.’”Geno Auriemma has been effusive in his enthusiasm about the team he hopes, fingers crossed, to be able to unleash in November and El Alfy is a big part of that. He’s convinced her talent and charisma will make fans fall in love with her. But not many in Connecticut have ever seen her play on TV, or on their computer screens. Her stats, such as 24 points and 11.5 rebounds per game in the FIBA under-18 African Championship, or 21.5 points per game in the under-18 World Cup, are impressive, but with no real frame of reference as games are not readily available.Dom Amore: Lakers got in Dan Hurley’s head, but couldn’t wrest his heart from UConnAll that is about to change; the mystery is about to be revealed. El Alfy will be out of the black sweat suit and wearing jersey No. 8, the number her father and coach, Ehab, always wore, when UConn fans next see her. She has been on the bench, cheering, as her teammates have been introduced each of the Huskies’ last 55 games. The next time the fans will be cheering for Jana El Alfy, out of the shadows and into the spotlight.“I get hyped a lot,” she said. “You can see me on the bench, it comes out naturally. I can’t wait to show that on the court, it’s just been like that. I  can’t wait for this moment; I worked so hard for this. I worked so hard to be here, at UConn. It was a dream of mine, I just have to take it step by step and not rush it. Patience.”

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