She dreamt of being a Husky sitting in the audience with a broken leg, all she could do was cheer from afar. This is the story of Isuneh or Ice Brady, UConn’s redshirted freshman. A galactic force on the court, Brady boasts a height of 6-foot-3, a potential shot-blocking stance. Balancing UConn’s offensive force with her dominant defense. Ice Brady is still on her path to mastering her college basketball moves.

As the Huskies kept knocking down their March Madness opponents, Brady’s presence and contribution played a crucial role in maintaining the team’s momentum. Shedding some light on her development as a Husky, let’s learn some early facts about UConn’s forward who still wears the jersey No. 25.

The emergence of Ice Brady

Representing the Cathedral Catholic High School in San Diego, Ice Brady started as an amazing shooter. As the Cathedral Catholic Varsity Basketball Center, Brady garnered a total of 110 points and a collective average of 18.5 points, 12.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.1 blocks, and 1.1 steals per game. In addition, she achieved several accolades in her four years at Cathedral Catholic, including being named to the 2022 McDonald’s All-American, ranked No. 5 recruit by ESPN, Jordan, and SLAM All-American, and selected to the 2022 MaxPreps California All-State Third Team, and became the 2021 San Diego Sports Association Player of the Year.

Notably, Brady was the 7th girl and 13th player in the San Diego Section to be named McDonald’s All-American Basketball Game. Her joy is evident in her words when she states, “I’m more than a little excited. I pay attention to who gets named to the game, but today’s announcement snuck up on me. We were at lunch as a team when the announcement came down, so I was little surprised. Really, this is awesome.”

As a senior, she represented the United States at the 2022 FIBA U18 Americas Championship and won a gold medal. Her outstanding performance in the tournament was marked by her average of 13 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.

Brady’s UConn journey started off with a huge stumble as she dislocated her patella or kneecap during practice in late October. The injury occurred after she fell on her knee at the right angle. This injury caused a major setback for Brady as she was benched even before the 2022-23 season took off. Thereafter, she underwent surgery and spent a year in rehab under the surveillance of UConn’s medical staff. “I’m really confident… she’s going to be better and more impactful than she already has been,” said UConn’s head coach Geno Auriemma.

Headlines were in the making when Brady, finally made her college basketball debut this season, though, slow and steady. Not to forget, she entered her freshman season as a No. 5 recruit in the U.S. So, Geno held his expectations of Brady quite high. “We need her to play like a junior in order for us to look like one of [UConn’s best teams],” he said.

But he also knew where she was coming from, “Now don’t get me wrong, she hasn’t played college basketball and there’s some issues that are going to arise. But anytime a kid can make shots from the perimeter, score in the lane, (is a) really good passer; she just has that kind of game,” he mentioned in afterward, affirming his confidence in her ability.

When she set her feet for the first six games, she was having some issues, averaging 3 points, and 2.3 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game, while shooting a humble 24.1% from the field. She had yet to shed off the rust. “I think she looks like a freshman. Coming off not playing last year, the pace of the game is fast and I think that’s something she’s still adjusting to,” said UConn’s associate head coach Chris Dailey.

Given her impressive footwork and height, the training staff needed her to be a good rebounder. “We need to do some of the dirty work. She’s a good screener, she’s a willing screener,” said Dailey.

UConn’s trailblazing freshman – Ice Brady

Fast forward to March 2024, UConn was already struggling with adversaries, losing half of its roster to season-ending injuries. As a result, she stepped up into her role as the team’s only available forward at the time of the Big East Conference Tournament and did a commendable job pushing herself to the limits and out of her comfort zone, where she found success. “I just never would have pictured this being how things would have turned out. … God is good, that’s all I have to say,” said Brady.

She further admitted to having let emotions drive her performance. However, Coch Auriemma ensured to get through, reminding her of the importance of March Madness. “And I feel like I really took that to heart,” she added.

She registered her first double-double performance in the regular season, scoring 11 points and 14 rebounds in an 86-40 win against Xavier. Moreover, she scored 10 points and 5 rebounds against Marquette in the Big East semifinal and contributed 13 points and 8 rebounds to UConn’s 78-42 Big East Conference title win over Georgetown.

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