Strong, the winner of just about every individual award there is last season, revealed an Achilles injury that hampered her throughout.
UConn star Sarah Strong achieved about every personal milestone there is in women's college basketball in the 2025-26 season.
Multiple national player of the year awards. Big East recognition, including conference player of the year. For starters.
That’s what makes what she told reporters who gathered on campus Wednesday so stunning. Strong said she played last season with an ailing Achilles, the pain first evident when she played on the 3x3 USA Basketball team in Mongolia.
It stayed with her all season, she said.
Strong, now a junior, said her preseason preparation has been limited, with the decision made “for me to take care of any aches and pains that I have and focus on getting healthier and stronger."
Strong said the Achilles pain and aches were present throughout the school year, whether on the court or walking around campus. The break has helped, and she started working out on her own a few days ago. She is not yet ready to take part in team drills.
"It's definitely been good,” she said of the down time. “Feel like my body needs it. Just trying to get healthier for next season."
In the meantime, she clearly had some fun narrating a practice featuring her teammates.
Strong’s 2025-26 season in review
Strong set the bar very high last season, when the Huskies finished 38-1 after losing in a Final Four semifinal to South Carolina, falling short of their goal of back-to-back championships.
On 20 occasions, she led the Huskies in scoring. She was the top rebounder in 24 games, leader in assists 12 times. Listed at forward, the 6-foot-2 Strong showed she truly is a player without position, capable anywhere she plays on the court.
She recorded 10 double-doubles, despite sitting out much of the fourth quarter of most games because UConn had such a large lead.
Strong led UConn with averages of 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 1.6blocks per game. Her 3.8 assists were second to point guard KK Arnold’s 4.6 per game.
Expectations for 2026-27
Strong has set her goal, of course, on the national title that escaped the Huskies’ grasp last season, despite entering the NCAA Tournament with an undefeated record. The UConn women have won 12 championships under head coach Geno Auriemma.
"We're always thinking about last season, how it ended," Strong said. "But we're focused on what we can do to be better, with a new team, new players coming in."
Auriemma said he knows that 62-48 loss to South Carolina in April pained Strong.
And he has even higher expectations for Strong, who last season led by example while grad student Azzi Fudd – now in the WNBA with the Dallas Wings – was the more vocal leader.
Auriemma told reporters who gathered Tuesday at a golf event that he wants Strong’s health “to be 100% come October” and for her to assume the team leadership role.
“Being a vocal, demonstrative kind of leader doesn't come natural to her,” he said. “She's more laid back and more quiet. But I sense that she's more intentional with what she says, who she says it to.”
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