Ossining's Andra Espinoza-Hunter, who is heading to UConn, reflects on her high school basketball career, which includes three Gold Balls and one state championship. Seth Harrison/lohud
Former Ossining standout Andra Espinoza-Hunter will transfer out of the UConn women’s basketball program, the school announced Friday afternoon.
The announcement comes nearly three weeks after Espinoza-Hunter, a freshman, stepped away from the program to deal with a personal matter. She was averaging 2.0 points and 7.0 minutes per game with the Huskies through seven games played.
“I just realized UConn wasn’t really a good fit for me,” Espinoza-Hunter said, when reached by phone Friday evening.
The 5-foot-11 guard said Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma and the coaching staff was “understanding” of her decision to transfer. Auriemma said in a statement released by the program that he has “enjoyed getting to know Andy and her family.”
“Everyone at UConn wishes Andy all the best as she continues her college career elsewhere,” he added in the statement.
Espinoza-Hunter said she plans to take a few classes at Westchester Community College and visit schools while figuring out her next step. Ossining head coach Dan Ricci, who coached Espinoza-Hunter for three seasons with the Pride, said his former pupil has plenty of top schools interested in her.
Espinoza-Hunter, who transferred back to Ossining for her senior year after three seasons with Blair Academy in New Jersey in part to be closer to her ailing grandmother, said she will be looking for the best fit at her next program – wherever it may be.
“Distance really isn’t a problem for me,” she said. “Wherever I think (the best fit) is, whether it’s in like California or Texas or whatever it is, no matter how far, as long as I think that it’s a good fit for me, then hopefully I’ll be going there.”
Espinoza-Hunter committed to UConn during her sophomore season at Blair Academy, when former Ossining teammate Saniya Chong was still with the Huskies. She was just 14 at the time, and said that the holding off on a commitment likely could have led to finding the right program for her.
“I think if I didn’t commit at such a young age, I would’ve been able to explore more options,” she said. “Just to look at other schools, see what other schools had to offer as well – kind of what I’m doing right now, hence why I’m staying home, so I have that time to weigh out my options.”
In her return to Ossining and Section 1 last season, Espinoza-Hunter put together one of the best individual seasons in New York State Public High School Athletic Association history, scoring 995 points to break the NYSPHSAA single-season record.
She was named the Gatorade New York State girls basketball player of the year, shared Miss New York Basketball honors with Danielle Patterson of the Mary Louis Academy, and was a McDonald’s All-American Game nominee.
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