"Pressure makes diamonds": Manhattan's Hana Muhl rallies behind sister Nika Muhl after unexpected ACL injury

Former UConn guard Nika Muhl sustained an ACL tear in her first game playing for the Turkish Super League team, Besiktas. Muhl appeared in 16 games during her rookie season with the Seatle Storm.

On Friday, the guard's sister, Hana Muhl, shared an encouraging message in support of her sister with a post on Instagram.

"Pressure makes diamonds 💎 with you every step of the way," Muhl wrote in the caption.

Hana Muhl is an incoming junior for the Manhattan Jaspers. She spent her last two seasons with the Ball State Cardinals and averaged 2.1 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 11.2 minutes of game time.

Nika Muhl spent four seasons with the UConn Huskies. She was one of the core players who played a crucial role in the Huskies' run to the Final Four last season. Her best season was in her junior year when she averaged 7.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.4 steals.

Muhl was selected No. 14 by the Seattle Storm in the 2024 WNBA draft. Despite her skills, the guard saw very little time on the court, with an average of 3.6 minutes per game. She scored her first points during Storm's final game of the regular season against the Phoenix Mercury.

---

Hana once named Nika Muhl as her inspiration

The Muhl sisters come from a basketball family as both their parents, Darko and Roberta Muhl, are former players. Despite this, their parents pushed the sisters away from basketball.

“We know there are a lot of injuries in women’s basketball, that’s why my wife stopped playing,” Darko said (per Ball State Daily). “We put [Hana] in swimming, tennis, and all the different sports, but she ended up playing basketball just like [Nika].”

In part, Hana Muhl shared that her reason for getting into basketball was her sister, Nika Muhl.

“Honestly, since growing up, she has always been my role model,” Hana said (per Yahoo Sports). "I’ve never said that to her because, not that I didn’t want to admit it, but you know, it’s just like something I kept for myself all this time. But it’s true."

"I told her that recently. It was after one of her games when they lost, but I just was so proud of her the way she played and like, kept her head up and everything.”

While Hana prepares for her new season with the Jaspers, Nika will be in recovery. The guard has promised to make a quick return, but there is no timeline as of now.