Growing up in Spain, Sarah Strong was first introduced to the game by her mother, Alison Feaster. Fister, a former standout at Harvard, was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks with the fifth overall pick in ’98, became an All-Star in ’04 and played overseas in France, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Strong remembers going to his mom’s practice and watching her work on wood while he fell in love with the game. “He would move a lot,” Strong said in May via Zoom. “That was probably his highlight. Just energy on defense, hustling and (being) aggressive. He (was) wild.”
The game has always been a part of Strong’s life. he even suited up for the same club team as his mother, but it wasn’t until he moved to the United States in the fifth grade that he began to take his game to the next level, considering; level of competition.
“The talent level and the skill level is so different here, so it’s definitely a little more difficult. I started getting results from it, so I said, OK, let me lock in,” he says. Off the court, Strong also had to deal with the transitions that come with moving from another country, be it cultural changes; In Spain, he watched a lot of American movies and was annoyed that he had to deal with bullies at school, such as: what he saw in the movies, or the language barrier. Strong, who speaks Spanish, initially struggled with reading comprehension in English.
He’s come a long way since then. A five-star recruit and the No. 1 ranked player in the ESPNW 100 for the Class of 2024, Strong is an undeniable talent with an all-around game; it’s keeping himself in position, using his silky smooth handles to drive to the rim or relying on his sharp vision to dish out dimes to his teammates. The 2023-24 Gatorade North Carolina Girls Basketball Player of the Year averaged a double-double at Grace Christian School (NC) while maintaining a 3.68 GPA.
Strong, who watched highlights from Maya Moore, her favorite player, and Breanna Stewart, always dreamed of going to UConn. And yet, when it came time to make his final decision, the final factor had nothing to do with the location, he says, but what he felt inside. “It’s always been a dream school,” she says. “I just kind of felt it in my heart and talked to my family. I prayed about it.’
At UConn, Strong wants to raise his game and “get used to the pace of college” and the level of physicality, from getting in shape to becoming a more efficient and consistent shooter. She’s set to join a Huskies team that just lost standout Aaliyah Edwards in the 2024 WNBA Draft, but will see the return of one of the most elite point guards in college hoops, Paige Buekers. The pair already have fans in Stores excited for the future. Strong is ready to bring that same energy.
“We’re just trying to win,” he says. “They haven’t won the league in a while, so that’s the plan for the next four years. I’m just really excited to play with everyone and get coached by the coaching staff.”
Portraits by Luke Schleifer.
