Kelly Faris is in her sophomore year as a Guard for the UConn Huskies. Kelly is the youngest of four children, all who played basketball, along with her dad who coached. “I started playing basketball at a pretty young age and enjoyed it. I had a lot of fun and it stuck.”

After being here for a year, Kelly says the transition from high school to college was difficult. “If you have been recruited by UConn, then you probably already think you are a hard worker. I got here and they pushed me 20 times harder. Every day I think I hit my maximum potential, and the next day they push me harder.” Regarding the difference in the high school game to the college game, “It’s more physically and mentally challenging, but it’s good. These are the reasons why you come to UConn.”

She has a lot of basketball memories so far winning a National Championship on her Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team, and four high school state championships at Heritage Christian High School in Plainfield, Indiana.

“Making a decision on what college to go to was a long difficult process but once I got to UConn, watched them practice, and talked to the girls and the coaches, I just felt like this was the best place that I would fit in.”

What will it take to get to the Final Four again: “This may sound like the standard answer, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work. We have beaten teams by quite a few points, and some people think it looks easy for us but our practices are the hard part. It takes effort and drive and you’ve go to want it if you want to be a part of this program.”