The day before Sarah Strong and the UConn women won the 2025 NCAA title last April, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley made a prediction about the Huskies' then-freshman forward.
"In the next three years, she might be the best player to come out of UConn," Staley said at the Final Four. "And those are strong words. But what she's able to do -- stay calm, the IQ is off the charts, the skill set off the charts. Big play after big play after big play."
Staley knows what it's like to have huge expectations as a freshman. She experienced it as a player at Virginia in 1988-89, averaging 18.5 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.3 steals. And she has both coached and coached against such players.
Strong had 24 points and 15 rebounds in the Huskies' win over South Carolina in the 2025 national championship game. She started all 40 games last season, averaging 16.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.3 steals. As a sophomore, the 6-foot-2 Strong is one of the front-runners for national player of the year. For the No. 1-ranked Huskies (4-0) this season, she is averaging 20.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 5.0 APG and 3.3 SPG.
At the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Showcase this weekend in Uncasville, Connecticut, the Huskies will face No. 6 Michigan on Friday and Utah on Sunday. Strong is coming off a 100-68 win over Ohio State in which she had 29 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and 3 blocks.
"We put the ball in Sarah Strong's hands," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said, "and we're going to get something really, really good."
There is a lot more time to watch Strong's progress as she climbs the ranks of UConn greats. For now, let's look at how some of her UConn predecessors dealt with the pressure of being highly regarded freshmen, how that carried over to their sophomore seasons, and the defining traits that Strong appears to share with them.
"I would say those kinds of players ... you could almost see the way they carried themselves was just different," Auriemma said. "They expect way more of themselves. That's what I would say right now about Sarah. Whatever she expected of herself last year -- which was probably a lot -- she expects way more from herself this year."
Sue Bird: Responsibility
Freshman season: 5.1 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 3.1 APG in 8 games
Sophomore season: 10.9 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.3 APG in 37 games
It might seem that little connects Bird, UConn's point guard from 1998-2002, and Strong. Bird's freshman season ended early with an ACL injury, while Strong was a key factor in winning a national championship in her first year.
But Auriemma knew both would thrive with him putting a lot of weight on their shoulders. Despite Bird's limited playing time as a freshman, he told her before her sophomore season that anything that went wrong with UConn would be her fault.
He wanted Bird to feel responsible for all the Huskies did. That edict wouldn't have worked with many players. For a born leader like Bird, it was a challenge she could process and handle. She helped lead UConn to the program's second national championship her sophomore season.
UConn needed Strong to play well immediately last season. She scored in double figures in all but three games and had fewer than five rebounds just three times. At the Final Four, Strong had 22 points and eight rebounds in the semifinals against UCLA, and 24 and 15 in the final against South Carolina.
This year, Auriemma has told Strong that he wants her to play like the best player in the country, period.
"As coaches ... even in practice we almost want her to be perfect," he said. "[It's] not fair. But I wouldn't ask her to be if I didn't think she could."
Diana Taurasi: Confidence
Freshman season: 10.9 PPG, 3.2 RPG, 3.3 APG in 33 games
Sophomore season: 14.5 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 5.3 APG in 39 games
Her freshman year, Taurasi was surrounded by star juniors and seniors yet still made an immediate impact. But that 2000-01 season ended with a nightmare: She shot 1-of-15 (0-of-11 from 3-point range) in a national semifinal loss to Notre Dame. However, Auriemma told her not to let that performance dent her superpower: confidence.
It didn't. As a sophomore, the guard shot 44% (92-of-209) to lead Division I in 3-point percentage and won the first of her three consecutive NCAA titles.
Strong doesn't have Taurasi's devil-may-care personality. But she has played with confidence since her first college game last year, in which she was 8-of-12 from the field for 17 points, with four rebounds and six steals, in a win over Boston University. Strong's unflappable demeanor gives stability to her entire team.
Tina Charles: Toughness
Freshman season: 12.7 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.3 BPG in 36 games
Sophomore season: 14.2 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 1.8 BPG in 38 games
Charles' freshman season ended with a lesson that toughened her up: facing then-junior Sylvia Fowles of LSU in the 2007 Elite Eight. LSU won 73-50 behind 6-6 center Fowles' 23 points, 15 rebounds and 6 blocks. Charles had one point, going 0-for-5 from the field, and three rebounds.
As a sophomore, Charles led the Big East in field goal percentage (60.4%) and helped UConn make the Final Four. The Huskies lost in the semifinals to Stanford, but Charles didn't lose a game in either her junior or senior seasons as UConn won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2009 and 2010.
The 6-4 Charles added the 3-point shot to her game when she was in her seventh WNBA season in 2016, and in 2021 she made a career-high 50. But her bread and butter have always been her toughness under the basket. Strong has similar resolve, even though she is a couple of inches shorter and already has an effective 3-point shot, making 59 last season on 38.8% shooting.
Maya Moore: Fluidity
Freshman season: 17.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 3.1 APG in 38 games
Sophomore season: 19.3 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 3.3 APG in 39 games
Moore's movement on court was so smooth it often left you wondering how she made things look so easy. We've already seen multiple moments like that from Strong.
Moore was a superstar as a freshman, helping lead the Huskies back to the Final Four after a three-year absence. They lost in the semifinals to Stanford. Then Moore was the consensus national player of the year as a sophomore and made the most 3-pointers of her career that season (90). UConn went undefeated her sophomore and junior seasons, and the 6-foot forward led UConn to a 150-4 record over her four-year career (2007-11) in Storrs.
Strong, also could become the consensus NPOY in her second season. How smooth she looks is an electric quality.
"When you watch how she does it, it just kind of makes you realize, 'That's not normal,'" Auriemma said of Strong. "Most kids, you can tell they're working really hard to get their 29 points. I don't know that she works really, really hard. I mean, it's not as easy as she makes it look ... but it kind of is.
"She has such great body control, fantastic vision, she knows how the game is being played and where her advantages are, and there isn't a shot on the floor she can't make."
Breanna Stewart: Dominance
Freshman season: 13.8 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 2.1 BPG in 36 games
Sophomore season: 19.4 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 2.8 BPG in 40 games
Steward famously arrived at UConn saying she would win four national championships -- and she did. The 6-foot-4 forward had some challenging moments during the regular season her freshman year when Auriemma benched her to make a point. That all faded away when she dominated the 2013 NCAA tournament.
Stewart, who played at UConn from 2012-16, carried that over to become the nation's best player as a sophomore, improving as a scorer, playmaker and defender. Stewart's dominance intimidated opponents before the game even started.
Strong has that going for her, too: She already has pro ability. One play in Sunday's win over Ohio State stands out as an example: Strong blocked a shot, scrambled past the shooter to get the ball and then drove down the court for a layup.
"I'm just trying to be part of every play," Strong said. "Affect the game in every way that I can."
Napheesa Collier: Efficiency
Freshman season: 6.8 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 1.2 BPG in 38 games
Sophomore season: 20.4 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 2.1 BPG in 37 games
As a freshman in 2015-16, Collier played behind seniors Stewart and Morgan Tuck in UConn's 38-0 season. But as a sophomore, she became UConn's leading scorer and rebounder while shooting a career-best 67.8% from the field. Collier's effective field goal percentage (70.2) led Division I in 2016-17.
Strong shot 58.6% from the field as a freshman, which included 38.8% from behind the arc. She is at 61.1% overall and 33.3% from 3-point range so far this season. Collier, a 6-1 forward who played at UConn from 2015-19, didn't squander her opportunities on the court, something she has carried with her to the WNBA. Strong has the same mentality.
"She's extremely efficient around the basket; she's great at the 3-point line," Ohio State coach Kevin McGuff said of Strong after Sunday's game. "But probably more important than all that, she's got a terrific basketball IQ, and she makes so many good decisions."
Paige Bueckers: Maturity
Freshman season: 20.0 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 5.8 APG in 29 games
Sophomore season: 14.6 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 3.9 APG in 17 games
Bueckers started her college career under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic and with the weight of being a "savior" player as the No. 1 recruit expected to help UConn win its first title since 2016. She was ready to be great. Bueckers was the consensus national player of the year as a freshman for the 2020-21 season, leading the Huskies to the national semifinals, where they lost to Arizona.
Strong also came in as a No. 1 recruit who was counted on to produce right away. Both Bueckers and Strong were prepared for high-pressure environments but also the everyday grind necessary to be their best. Strong no doubt got some of that from her mother, Allison Feaster, who played collegiately at Harvard and then spent 10 seasons in the WNBA.
Admittedly, Bueckers' sophomore year was different than that of any of the previously mentioned players because it was injury-plagued, so she didn't get the chance to make the progress she wanted. Still, Bueckers stayed the course through that season, and was back to help the Huskies make the 2022 NCAA final, where they lost to South Carolina.
Bueckers missed 2022-23 with a knee injury, lost in the national semifinals again (to Iowa) in 2024, and then last season she and Strong helped lead UConn to its first NCAA title since 2016. Like Bueckers, Strong never looked rattled as a freshman.
"She plays with such confidence and such poise," Auriemma said of Strong, "because she knows, 'I will never be on the court in any situation where I don't know what to do.' That's a pretty great luxury to have as a kid."
ESPN's Alexa Philippou contributed to this story.