Jana El Alfy's parents travel 6,518 miles to see the UConn player in NCAA Final Four vs UCLA

Jana El Alfy's parents, Ehab El Alfy and Dina Gouda, traveled all the way from Cairo, Egypt to Tampa, Florida — approximately 6,518 miles — to see their daughter play in the NCAA Final Four against UCLA on Friday.

Hartford Courant's Emily Adams reported on X (formerly Twitter) adding a picture of the UConn star's parents from the stands in Amalie Arena.

El Alfy, who missed out on her true freshman year due to injury, is playing her first March Madness with the Huskies, who are the favorites to win the tournament.

The 6-foot-5 center started the game for UConn and, by halftime, had recorded two points, four rebounds, and three steals as the Huskies comfortably led 42-22. This is her 26th game this season as a starter — a significant feat for someone in her first year on the court and at UConn.

Coach Geno Auriemma has consistently praised Jana El Alfy's work ethic and her understanding of the game, which she largely developed from a young age while observing her father.

Ehab El Alfy was a professional basketball player in Egypt and currently works as the head coach of the Egyptian national team, providing Jana with early exposure to the game.

"When she was six, she (came) with me to the practices, and she’d stay with me for four or five hours watching basketball every day," Ehab said during her recruiting process in 2022, via CT Insider. "I’m very happy she chose basketball."

Jana El Alfy thanks her parents for teaching Ramadan discipline

Jana El Alfy has spoken about how her parents instilled in her the discipline to observe Ramadan when she was younger. She was 11 years old when she began fasting for the entire day.

"I was very stubborn with my parents," El Alfy said. "They weren't, like, really pushing me to do it all day when I was younger, but I was really like, 'Oh, you guys do it, I want to do it too.' My parents would have me fast until noon at first or until three o'clock."

This year has been a tough one, having to juggle this so far away from home in Connecticut while playing games in the March Madness.

Luckily, her teammates, including Paige Bueckers and the UConn staff, were very supportive. She mentioned that her teammates would always check in on her, asking how she was feeling, adding that this helped her balance things.