UConn standout Sarah Strong added to her haul at the Final Four in Phoenix.

Strong picked up two more awards on Thursday when she was named the 2026 Associated Press National Player of the Year and winner of the Wade Trophy. The latter is given annually to the player of the year as voted on by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

On Wednesday, she was honored with the Naismith Trophy and previously won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.

The final player of the year honor to be bestowed is the Wooden Award. If Strong, a sophomore, takes that one home, she will be the first UConn player since Breanna Stewart in 2016 to make a clean sweep of the awards. Stewart also won all five awards in 2015.

Strong got a standing ovation from her teammates at the AP Player of the Year announcement as did Shea Ralph, a former UConn All-American who was named AP Coach of the Year for her work at Vanderbilt.

“I’m so blessed because I totally got to this point in my life because of my teammates,” Strong said.

She received 25 of the 31 votes. Mikayla Blakes of Vanderbilt earned four, and Lauren Betts of UCLA was named on two ballots. The voting was conducted before the start of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

Geno Auriemma’s players through the years have won six Wooden, 11 Naismith, 10 Wade, 12 AP and 10 USBWA player of the year awards, given to names such as Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Tina Charles. And more.

Auriemma told the AP that Strong has a “calmness” about her that “allows her to just be free and fluid and play without worry.”

“Anybody that has watched us play would probably tell you that she’s the heart and soul of our team,” Auriemma said.

On the season, Strong has averages of 18.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 3.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game. She is shooting 59.4% from the field, 40.4% from 3-point territory and 84.8% from the foul line.

Her defense has been even more potent. She is tops in the nation in defensive rating, defensive win shares and defensive box plus/minus.

Strong will be in action Friday night when defending champion UConn (38-0) faces South Carolina (35-3) in the first of two national semifinal games (7 p.m., ESPN). Texas and UCLA will meet in the other, with the winners of each game advancing to the title showdown on Sunday.

This is the second straight appearance in the Final Four for these four teams. All four were No. 1 seeds in their regions, with the undefeated Huskies the top overall seed.

UConn will be seeking the program’s 13th overall national championship.

Remember to join our UCONN on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Huskies fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that's free too!