Dom Amore: One UConn women's player reacted to her coaches' yelling with a secret smile

STORRS, Conn. - Morgan Cheli has been getting yelled at a bit lately, and nothing makes her happier.

"I think CD (coach Chris Dailey) yelled at me for not outletting it fast enough," Cheli said. "She didn't see me, but I kind of smiled because it was like, ‘I'm back, I'm back. She's yelling at me.' It was just a good feeling. Being yelled at, it's not always amazing, but when you haven't had that experience for a long time, it was exciting to be back in that atmosphere."

It's the little things one misses when a life's passion is taken away. Cheli was around the UConn women's basketball team, a spectator, a cheerleader, a teammate, but there was that wall of separation as her recovery from surgery on her right ankle, what turned out to be a stress fracture, seemed to take forever. She hasn't played in a game in more than 16 months, since Feb. 9, 2025, undergoing the surgery a week later.

This summer, Cheli is back on the court, full go, and Dailey, Geno Auriemma and the rest of the coaches can go ahead and holler, turn the volume all the way up and make Cheli's day. She is a player again, part of the action again.

"Mentally, it's an adjustment, I'm getting back to the pace, getting yelled at again," she said. "Some of the drills we're doing, I'm like, ‘Oh, my gosh, I don't remember what this was like.' For a while, I've been in the sidelines, so I'm still processing it right now. But it's … awesome."

Cheli, 6 foot 2 guard from Los Altos, Calif., brought positional size, exceptional skill and boundless enthusiasm when she arrived on campus two years ago. As she began to work into the fabric of that championship team, her bench role was to move up and down giving high fives when someone hit a 3-pointer. When she'd get in, she hit the first three she attempted herself, but the discomfort she was feeling slowed her down. After 24 games, she shut it down.

"Given my situation with my ankle, (surgery) was the right route to go," Cheli said. "Everybody gave me great advice. It was an accumulation of different things, but it got to the point where I couldn't walk out of bed, so something's not right. I broke one of my bones."

Stress fractures in the ankles or feet are not uncommon among basketball players, given the constant pounding on the hardwood. The healing process can take a long time, longer than Cheli had hoped. She planned to get back for at least some of the 2025-26 season, but eventually it was decided she would redshirt.

"As I was trying to get back and return to play, I still feeling wasn't 100 percent," she said, "so we took time to reevaluate my situation and get back to where I was able to give everything, which I am now doing. You can't really fight an injury, you have to listen to your body and the people around you."

As she walked around on crutches, later in a walking boot, watched the games from the bench in her sweatsuit, Cheli tried to contribute the one thing she could without playing: positive vibes.

"She's always been high energy," senior Ashlynn Shade said, "but obviously, it's not something that's easy to go through, especially with how long; I don't think she wanted to be out that long. You could kind of see the toll it took on her, but she never stopped being a great teammate, a great person on and off the court for us."

Cheli said, "Definitely, at times, you're like, ‘Gosh, when is there going to be light at the end of the tunnel?' It was a long time. But trying to find ways I could contribute without being on the court, being upbeat, high energy, I tried to bring that every day. Everyone, even the freshman that are here now, are part of my journey."

In high school, Cheli averaged 15 points, 7.3 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 3.1 steals, and led Archbishop Mitty to the Nike Tournament of Champions title, and over her career, four straight Northern California Open championships. She was the ESPN's 11th-ranked recruit in the Class of 2024, a Naismith, Jordan Brand and McDonald's All-American. Gradually, those skills are starting to show again.

"For not having played, she's been doing a lot of really good things," Auriemma said. "You can see why she was the player she was."

In a program where national championships are the expectations, and Final Four appearances have become a baseline achievement, missing a year and a half can leave a player in the background, as top recruits - from all over the world, now - are always arriving on campus. But the Huskies have lost players, notably Azzi Fudd, there is room for a player to build a niche, push herself back into the rotation.

"It's great that she is finally back and able to join us in the workouts and seeing her healthy," Shade said. "I think she'll just give us a different variety on the court, whether that's a (forward) or guard. I think she can be versatile no matter what she does, so it'll be fun to have her back out there."

For Cheli, healthy again and in possession of three year's eligibility, it's about making the minutes, and the moments, count - even the yelling that makes her feel part of it, let's her know the coaches are trying to make her better.

"It's never taking it for granted," she said. "You never know if it's going to be your last game or not. Enjoy the moment, being with my teammates. It's playing basketball, it's what I love to do."

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 19, 2026 at 5:46 AM.