Some kids find basketball. Others get found by it. For Olivia Vukosa, it started at six and a half years old, when she was growing so fast her parents decided she should try a sport.
“I tried soccer, didn’t really like it, and then my dad put me in basketball,” Olivia told Macaroni Kid Northeast Queens. She got her start at Dwarf Giraffe, played there for a year, then moved on to more training, travel teams, and eventually national team summers.
Today, the Whitestone native is a freshman with the UConn Huskies, one of the most storied programs in women’s college basketball.
Carrying the Queens-to-Storrs Legacy
Olivia follows Christ the King greats Sue Bird and Tina Charles to UConn, and she’s well aware of the shoes she’s stepping into.
“It’s definitely an honor to be a part of that legacy,” she said. “Now I get to put my name in, even though I’m just starting out. My goal is to definitely leave a big impact here, just like they did.”
Life as a college athlete is a big change. On a typical day, Olivia has class from 8 a.m. to 1:45 p.m., practice from 2:15 until about 5, a lift, and then mandatory freshman study hall from 6 to 7:30. What surprised her most? “How planned out it is,” she said.
College basketball is another level of intensity and commitment, and Olivia came in ready for it. Her high school coaches pushed her hard, and she says that groundwork made the jump easier. “I was just pushed a lot,” she said. “I think that definitely helped and carried over to college.”
Her teammates have quickly become family, too. “We’re all really close and we all get along really well,” she said.
A Family Effort
Olivia is the first in her family to reach this level, and she credits her parents for getting her here. Her dad drove her everywhere for basketball, while her mom juggled her younger sisters so the whole family could show up to games. Over the years, they missed family parties and planned around tournaments.
“They both did a lot for me, and they still continue to do it,” she said. “Even just by them showing up to my games, it means the world to me now.”
Ask her dad how Olivia got where she is, and he has a quick answer: his pocket.
With Storrs just two hours away, her parents come to games all the time, and her younger sisters, who also play basketball, are starting to realize their big sister is kind of a celebrity. “They’re trying to play how I played, and they want to do everything I’ve done,” she said. “They’re all a huge part of my reason why I play basketball.”
Olivia also represents Croatia internationally. Playing with the senior national team against grown women has made her stronger and more physical on the court. Off the court, her heritage shows up in family time: dinner with her grandparents in Flushing every Friday, and holidays spent together.
Hoops and a Future in Medicine
Basketball isn’t Olivia’s only ambition. She plans to study medicine, with an eye on becoming a pediatrician. She credits her mom, a pharmacist, for the early interest, and years of babysitting her many younger cousins for her love of working with kids.
Advice for Young Athletes (and Their Parents)
To the 10-year-old girl dreaming of playing in college, Olivia’s message is simple: “Work hard, give it your all-all the time, and if it’s something you really want, your mind will just take over after a certain point.”
She remembers hating it when her dad announced it was time for training. “I wanted to relax. I wanted to just sit on the couch or watch a movie,” she said. “But he would always remind me that if I wanted to play in college, I had to get up and work for it now.”
Her secret to avoiding burnout? Real days off. “When I had a day off, it was a day off. I wasn’t touching a basketball. I wasn’t going to lift,” she said. “If I had the opportunity to go hang out with my friends, I was going, just to make sure I was still in touch with the rest of the world outside of basketball.”
For parents, she says there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. “You know your kid best,” she said. “If they need to be pushed more, which I did as a kid, then that’s what it is. If you know they can do it after you tell them one time, then that’s all they need.”
Quick Hits with Olivia
Hometown hangouts: Whitestone Diner with friends, Whitestone Bagel Factory for breakfast, and Cherry Valley with family (“our favorite place”).
Pre-game meal: An açaí bowl.
On repeat: Anything by Don Toliver.
What she misses most about Queens: Besides family? Pizza, specifically Pizza Garden.
Catch Her Close to Home
Local fans have two chances to cheer Olivia on without leaving the city:
Saturday, December 5, 2:00 p.m. – UConn vs. Maryland at the Women’s Champions Classic, Barclays Center, Brooklyn (rescheduled from 7 p.m.)
Sunday, January 24, 2027, time TBD – UConn at St. John’s, Madison Square Garden, Manhattan
If you’re up for a short trip, UConn also plays Seton Hall at the Coretta Scott King Classic on Monday, January 18, 2027, at noon at the Prudential Center in Newark.
Tickets are going fast, so grab yours early. Northeast Queens, let’s show up for one of our own!
