Paige Bueckers’ enthusiasm was plain to see as she sent some words of encouragement the way of Jana El Alfy as the highly-tipped youngster prepares for her UConn bow.

The Egyptian starlet agonizingly had to watch on from the sidelines during her first year in Connecticut after picking up an injury at the FIBA Under-19 World Cup. Having completed her recovery from her Achilles issue, the 6ft 5in ace is expected to finally make her collegiate debut in November.

After missing her freshman year, the Cairo-born center has now received the backing of her Huskies teammates ahead of the new NCAA season. Among those itching to line up alongside El Alfy is Bueckers, who took to the comments section after a post from the former on Instagram.

The Egypt Women’s National Team star posted a picture in her huskies attire with the caption: “Year ١…finally,” as Bueckers replied saying: “Let’s go El Alfy,” while T KK Arnold quipped: “SHES HEADED TO THE PYRAMID,” as Caroline Ducharme also added: “Media day face neva declines.”

Meanwhile Ashlynn Shade also was on hand as she replied: “JANA BO BANA!!,” with Kaitlyn Chen laughing: “We had so many better captions. But yes I still love this, as Ice Brady’s enthusiasm was palpable as she added: “oh yea i’m lit.”

El Alfy’s stock in the Huskies locker room is especially high heading into her maiden NCAA campaign, with Geno Auriemma having spoken in glowing terms about her too. The coach said: “I can’t say enough about her as a person. Nobody has seen her play. No one at UConn nation has seen her play, and they don’t know anything about her.

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UConn starlet Jana El Alfy is looking forward to finally making her Huskies bow

UConn starlet Jana El Alfy is looking forward to finally making her Huskies bow ( 

Image:

Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

“All they know is what they see. Myself, the staff, the players, and everyone associated with our program has been really truly, truly blessed that she’s come into our life because I can honestly say in 40 years I’ve never coached anybody better at Connecticut, never, in my life.”

Previously, Auriemma revealed that El Alfy is brimming with excitement when it comes to finally getting started with the Huskies. He said: “Jana’s like a bull in the China shop. She’s hard to guard, like all our practice players have a really hard time guarding her in the lane because she’s so physical, and she takes up a lot of space.

“But she’s her own worst enemy. It’s like she wants to make up for a year and a half of not playing on every possession. So, we’re trying to kind of get that pace a little bit better. But she has a real edge to her that I love, and I enjoy coaching her. She’s given us something we haven’t had in a long, long time.”