Sarah Strong committed to Geno Auriemma’s UConn Huskies in 2024. Strong chose UConn over Duke and UNC. She joined Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd. This was the start of the first season when both Paige and Azzi were 100% fit. The three combined to help UConn win their record 12th national championship.
As she won the NCAA title in her freshman year, Strong earned the trust of coach Auriemma. And very quickly became one of the leaders for the Huskies. As Paige got drafted, Geno Auriemma demanded more leadership from Sarah Strong. She and Azzi Fudd were the most vital players for the Huskies. Sarah Strong has fully settled in with UConn and Geno Auriemma.
However, it wasn’t so easy when she joined. Like almost any other player coming to play for coach Auriemma, she was also intimidated by him.
Source: Imagn
She recently admitted that she had no idea what to expect when she joined UConn. She had heard that Auriemma had a reputation of being “very serious.” Strong was also worried about associate head coach Chris Dailey’s “strict” rules.
“I still can’t to this day read him,” Strong said about Auriemma. “If he’s joking or when he makes those little comments, I’m like, I can’t tell if you’re serious…We’ve gotten a lot better at it now. I know what to expect. But both of them were just really intimidating. I was kind of scared of both.”
Strong also recalled when she saw Geno yell at Paige or other seniors. “Seeing [Geno] yell at Paige or one of the upperclassmen, and, like, he’s saying some kind of hurtful things, I was like, Oh, wow. Is that normal here? It is,” she admits.
Azzi Fudd heaps praise on Sarah Strong
In her freshman season and in route to winning the national championship, Sarah Strong had a tremendous NCAA tournament. She averaged double-double of 19 points and 11.7 rebounds. After playing 2 seasons with her, Azzi Fudd has the perfect view on her.
“I’ve never played with someone so smart, so skilled, so good at everything,” Fudd tells us. “She’s got the best IQ ever, but she looks like she’s not trying half the time. And I think it’s incredible that she’ll have, like, almost a triple-double, and it barely looks like she’s breaking a sweat.”
Read more:
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Is Sarah Strong Injured? Geno Auriemma Provides Update on UConn Star
“I Just Feel Like a Dumba**”: Geno Auriemma Revisits Viral Clash With Dawn Staley
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