​Sarah Strong #21 of the UConn Huskies shoots a free throw during the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame women’s college basketball exhibition game between the Syracuse Orange and the UConn Huskies at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on October 12, 2026. (Photo by Erica Denhoff/NurPhoto via Getty Images) (NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The reigning national player of the year begins her junior season with UConn women’s basketball once again among the top returning players in the nation.Sarah Strong was named to the five-player preseason AP All-America team Thursday. It’s her second time receiving the honor after also earning the recognition last fall ahead of her national player of the year sophomore campaign.The forward is joined on this year’s preseason All-America team by Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, USC’s JuJu Watkins, Texas’ Madison Booker and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes. Strong was the only player to receive a vote from all 30 AP voters. Hidalgo and Booker received 28 votes, Blakes 27 and Watkins 26.Strong became UConn’s sixth consensus player of the year last year, including earning the 2026 AP Player of the Year award. She was also a 2026 AP First Team All-American and a 2025 AP Second Team All-American. Strong led UConn in nearly every statistical category last season, averaging 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.Meet AP’s 2026 All-America women’s college basketball team, featuring JuJu Watkins, Mikayla Blakes, Hannah Hidalgo, Sarah Strong and Madison Booker. #Basketball #WomensBasketball #CollegeBasketball https://t.co/ZIww2asgsA- The Associated Press (@AP) October 22, 2026She begins her junior year ready to take on a bigger leadership role for the Huskies as they enter a post-Paige Bueckers-Azzi Fudd era. While Strong took the summer off from basketball to rest her Achilles, she spent the offseason and preseason working to become a more vocal leader. During Monday’s exhibition against Texas, the junior was seen grabbing her teammates together for impromptu huddles on the court and pulling aside each one to talk through plays, especially after something went wrong.”I think Sarah did a great job today of being that vocal presence for us, kind of being that voice we could turn to,” said senior guard Ashlynn Shade. “She calmed us. She got us through the ups and downs, and that’s something that I think a lot of us look to. And she’s doing a great job at it.”If Strong can elevate her game to the next level, she has the chance to become UConn’s first player to win back-to-back national player of the year awards since Breanna Stewart won three straight from 2014 to 2016. Including Stewart, only three Huskies have been named national player of the year in consecutive seasons (others are Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore).Watkins, Booker and Blakes are Strong’s biggest competitors for the 2027 award. Blakes was a 2026 Naismith Trophy finalist (along with Strong, Fudd and UCLA’s Lauren Betts), while