Meet new UConn transfer Kaitlyn Chen who always ‘rises to the occasion’

The winds of change are finally beginning to blow through Geno Auriemma’s timeless UConn dynasty, as the Huskies made just their fourth transfer addition in the past decade this offseason.

Kaitlyn Chen is heading to Storrs for the 2024-25 season after three standout campaigns 160 miles south at Princeton, compelling Auriemma to buck his usual recruitment strategy and secure one of the best point guards in college basketball.

“I picked UConn because of the environment,” Chen said in a statement released by UConn on May 1. “The coaches and players made me feel extremely welcome. I am super excited about this upcoming year. I believe this place will push me to become a better version of myself both on and off the court.”

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Despite a four-star, top-70 national billing after a standout high school career in San Marino, California, Chen placed a transcontinental gamble on an up-and-coming Princeton program that had finished the previous season ranked for just the third time ever. Chen enrolled at the Ivy League institution ahead of a 2020-21 season that never happened, canceled by the conference in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chen played 31 minutes in her long-awaited collegiate debut the next season, a dominant 17-point win over Maddy Siegrist, Lucy Olsen and Big East squad Villanova, a fitting prelude for one of the most transformative careers in Princeton history. By her third year in black and orange, Chen averaged 15.8 points per game and 4.9 assists a night, good for 51st nationally among nearly 3,500 eligible players, as she helped transform Princeton from loveable upstarts to bonafide mid-major juggernauts.

Princeton featured in the AP Poll during each of Chen’s three seasons on campus, securing two NCAA tournament wins and an additional victory over No. 22 Oklahoma during that stretch as well. “In any big situation she rises to the occasion and the challenge,” Tigers coach Carla Berube said of Chen. “She doesn’t back down in the bright lights and she’s ready to do what her team needs for us to be successful. She can put our team on her back.”

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Berube also provided Chen with a connection to UConn, playing for the perennial powers from 1993-1997 and featuring on the Huskies’ legendary 1995 squad that finished 35-0 and won a national title. Chen erased a 15-point deficit against the Huskies in a narrow 69-64 loss two years ago, causing Auriemma to begin monitoring the Californian superstar as well.

Chen graduated from Princeton this spring, and as Ivy League schools don’t allow graduate students to compete in athletics, Berube and Auriemma turned her forced transfer move into a pleasant experience. “Honestly, it was a lot more enjoyable than when I was recruited out of high school,” Chen said of the transfer process via CT Insider.

“It was nice talking to fewer schools, and I sort of had an idea what I wanted. Then in the end, just visiting here and meeting the people here (sold me). Obviously, all the coaches are amazing and so are all the players. Getting a vibe for this place, I really enjoyed it.”