In what could be a precursor of awards to come, UConn sophomore forward Sarah Strong was named by The Athletic as the women’s National Player of the Year on Thursday.

The outlet named her the top freshman in the nation last season.

Her 2026 honor came with this endorsement from the four-member selection panel:

“At this point, the UConn-dominance-is-boring crowd has had years to debate during the reigns of several incredible players,” the panel members wrote. “But Strong seems to be on track to become the next generational great, and quite possibly by the end of her career, the best to ever come through Storrs.”

Best ever to come through Storrs would be quite an accomplishment, given the legacy of the 12-time national champion UConn women.

In the regular season, Strong averaged 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks – all of which are tops for the 31-0 Huskies. Her 4.3 assists were second to only KK Arnold and her 4.8 assists per game.

And she did that while averaging only 26.6 minutes per game. Given No. 1 UConn’s insurmountable leads in most games, she rarely played more than a minute in the fourth quarter.

What would those numbers look like if she played 35 of the 40 minutes in a game? (For starters, 24.5 points and 10.0 rebounds a game.)

The Athletic also named Strong to its first-team All-America list. UConn guard Azzi Fudd landed on the second-team All-America team.

On the season, Fudd has averages of 17.9 points, 2.6 rebounds. 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals.

Also honored as first-team All-Americans by The Athletic: Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt, sophomore, guard; Lauren Betts, UCLA, senior, center; Olivia Miles, TCU, graduate student, guard; and Madison Booker, Texas, junior, forward.

The other second-team All-Americans selected: Joyce Edwards, South Carolina, sophomore, forward; Olivia Olson, Michigan, sophomore, guard; Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame, junior, guard; and Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State, sophomore, guard, and Flau’jae Johnson, LSU, senior, guard (tie).

The Athletic’s honor came the same day UConn’s women’s program earned several Big East awards. Roundtable’s Brady Farkas has the full story here.

And on the men’s side, Dan Hurley was named a finalist for the 2025-26 Jim Phelan Award, given annually to the top head coach in Division I and presented by CollegeInsider.com.

Chris Beard at Ole Miss won the honor last season.

Hurley, whose UConn team is ranked No. 4 in the nation, is one of 20 nominees. The list includes fellow Big East coach Rick Pitino of St. John’s and Jon Scheyer, the coach of No. 1 Duke.

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