Women’s Final Four 2026: How UConn star Sarah Strong found her voice

Phoenix – two days Before the final four, sarah strong She was so nervous that she was not able to eat.

But yukon huskies‘ The superstar wasn’t worried about her team’s upcoming national semifinal matchup against South Carolina or the Huskies coming off two wins from an undefeated season and back-to-back NCAA championships.

It had nothing to do with basketball. Very scared of speaking in public.

Strong was scheduled to be awarded the Naismith Trophy for national player of the year. A ceremony honoring him and the other award finalists was imminent. He has to go on stage to collect his trophy and give some comments in front of the crowd.

In other words: a mix of things that Strong — known for her reserved public nature, terse news conference answers and disinterest in the spotlight — would prefer to sidestep.

“It’s the strangest thing,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said last month. “Theoretically, those two things don’t go together: ‘I want to be the best player in the country,’ but then when people say, ‘Oh, there’s Sarah Strong, she’s the best player in the country'” — Auriemma physically steps back as he imitates Strong — “she hides from it.”

If they ever existed, the days of the strong hiding in the wings are gone. His talent made it impossible. Last April, Gamecocks coach Don Staley considered him capable of being the best to come out of UConn — and he’s done nothing to disprove that notion. Leading the No. 1 Huskies in points, rebounds, steals and blocks, Strong has so far won national player of the year awards.

None of this matters to Strong—she may be the only person to describe Naismith’s victory as a “cool side quest.” But his maturity on and off the court into the star the Huskies need could be the key to a dynasty revival, if all goes to plan for UConn in Phoenix this weekend.

“She’s a kid who wants to fit in,” said North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart, who recruited Strong while she was in high school in Durham in hopes of keeping her in the state. “I think now she realizes that her way of adjusting is better than everybody else’s.

“I think she’s starting to understand the power of Sarah Strong.”

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there was no good food Certainly see what Strong thought when they roomed together during the Huskies’ visit to the Bahamas around Thanksgiving 2024. Despite being roommates for a week, Fudd estimates that most of their conversations lasted about 30 seconds.

Other teammates have similar stories about their first encounters with Strong. For Eli ZiebelA fellow second-year student who accompanied Strong on an official visit to Storrs, the combination of their quiet personalities made a tough pairing. “Honestly, I feel like every conversation I had with Sarah before was very awkward,” Ziebell said with a laugh.

redshirt sophomore Jana El AlfiMeanwhile, Strong met Strong at a FIBA ​​event in Hungary before making the Huskies and thought, “Either she hates me or she’s just shy.”

Once on campus, Strong came out of her shell off the court. The Huskies have described him as a goofy person, someone who can easily learn new skills and excels in everything – almost annoyingly – he tries. Ziebel describes her as the first friend who checks in on someone when they’re having a bad day.

On the court, Strong’s versatility, IQ and instincts were immediately apparent.

“[If] You’re building a player, how do you build something different, better?” Auriemma said recently. But star elite players are playing with fads and Paige BueckersLast year’s No. 1 WNBA draft pick meant Strong had a tendency to bow down to others.

“Normally, as a new player, you come in, you want to gain everybody’s respect,” Bueckers told ESPN. “You don’t want to step on their toes… I wanted her to think this was her team, where she felt confident enough to take over a game and not have to, like, defer to Paige, defer to Azzi.”

That change happened last March. Strong had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the Elite Eight and 24 points and 15 rebounds in the national title game. She left Tampa, Florida with a worthy bid for Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four – and viewers wondering how she could top her freshman season.

with bookers off With the WNBA and the program preparing for Fudd’s departure, a more aggressive sophomore season was imperative for Strong. She needed to become more confident and assertive, not only leading by example but also becoming more comfortable using her voice.

And he had no objection to taking over games when the Huskies needed it — even if it seemed contrary to his nature as, in the words of Banghart, a man “about as egoless as there is on the planet.”

“His biggest flaw is his unselfishness,” Bueckers said, “and I think that’s his superpower too.”

“I think too, [it’s about] Helping redefine what it means to be selfish,” said Strong’s mother and former Harvard star Allison Feaster, who led the nation in scoring for two seasons in the 1990s. “If your team needs you to score, if your team needs you to have the ball in your hands, the team needs you to put pressure on the other team’s defense in any way, then to me, to do the opposite, is to be selfish.”

Game after game, Strong has come into his own – and proven himself to be one of the most impactful players in the game. He has had 31 career games scoring at least 20 points. Breanna Stewart The most by a UConn player during his first two seasons with the program in the last 25 seasons. With 26 more points, she could break Maya Moore’s UConn record for most points through a player’s first two NCAA Tournaments; With 33 points, she could break Chamik Holdsclaw’s record (for any player).

“She’s more comfortable being herself, just being authentically herself,” the Yukon junior said. ashlyn shade Said. “I think it’s rubbed off on the court too, because she’s so powerful, so strong, so confident, she’s unstoppable.”

And when UConn needed him most in March, Strong delivered.

In the Sweet 16, the Huskies trailed after the first quarter for only the second time this season, their offense stumbling in the face of North Carolina’s weak defense. The second quarter saw a strong surge of three consecutive baskets and 11 points in the period to swing the lead and momentum in UConn’s favor.

The Huskies led 28–20 at halftime, and before Auriemma arrived, Strong spoke in the locker room and told his teammates that if they played their game, the Tar Heels could not stop it. After the win, he described the moment as perhaps the first time this season he felt comfortable speaking in such a setting.

“I’m not a guy who does or says a lot of things, but if I say something here and there, and when I do, it’s pretty impactful,” Strong said. “I know the team respects me and Azzi, so we try to do a good job of leadership.”

Two days later, the Huskies were in a dogfight against Notre Dame. He had trouble getting a strong touch in the beginning. After playing 38 minutes in the previous game, he admitted after the game that his tired legs had made him more immobile than usual.

But he recognized that his team needed his performance. And in the second half, he tallied 15 of UConn’s 38 points. After winning, he found his mother bent over the statistics table near the court due to exhaustion. “You’re in, baby,” Feaster told him, as Strong wiped his brow and said “oops.”

“She knows she has a huge responsibility when it’s time to win games,” Auriemma said. “Some players shy away from it, and he likes it.”

Feaster and Auriemma don’t think she feels pressure. She says, she just sees it as doing whatever needs to be done to win.

“Honestly, I don’t think it’s registered in her mind, the things she’s doing personally,” Feaster said. “I don’t know what he thought about becoming national champion in his first season. It’s not something that motivates him, the personal aspect.”

In turn, his looseness, his calmness, has become the personality of the team this season, helping the Huskies shoulder the burden of an undefeated record with relative ease, which has surprised even Auriemma.

“Sarah has a level of confidence that I think takes them to a place where they might not be alone or maybe with a different person,” Auriemma said. “So, they play with confidence knowing that they have it, and that’s probably the best compliment I can give him.”

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take strong teammates Their phones are taken out of their pockets and placed on standby. Naismith ceremony officials are about to announce the Player of the Year. And the strong one is ready.

As soon as Strong’s name is called, the Huskies stand and begin cheering and she takes the stage. They begin chanting, “Speech! Speech! Speech!”

Strong approaches the podium and stands straight without stopping. He had spent the previous day preparing some commentary with UConn’s sports information director. Strong speaks for 45 seconds – “I don’t say a lot, but I really love you guys,” she tells her teammates before returning to her seat with a smile.

This is not Strong’s last demand. Naismith executives asked him for an interview with a media circuit, local reporters, CBS and even ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. There’s more to come the next day. He has also been named the Associated Press Player of the Year as well as the winner of the Wade Trophy for Player of the Year – which means more celebrations, more standing ovations, more media and more acceptance speeches.

At Wade’s celebration — less than 24 hours before the Final Four game against South Carolina — she was asked if she wanted to make any comments.

“No,” she says, “I’ve said enough.”

She is saving the remaining amount for the court.