Is Sarah Strong going to have the best UCONN career of all time?

[bballnut90]

This might be a slightly premature hypothetical, but I thought I'd put it out there.

So far into her 1.5 year career she has:
-won a championship
-was named 2nd Team All American as a freshman
-easily could have been named Final Four MOP
-is the presumed frontrunner for NPOY as a sophomore
-has UCONN #1 and undefeated headed into the easy stretch of their schedule

A lot of career left to go, but she has a stronger resume through 1.5 years than any UCONN player before her. Comparing her to the Big 3 at the same point in their careers:

Maya Moore: was a 1st Team All American as a freshman but didn't win a title that year. Mid season sophomore year her team was #1 and undefeated and Maya was the clear frontrunner for NPOY. I'd give Strong the edge due to the championship and Final Four play.

Breanna Stewart: didn't make an All American team as a freshman. Won MOP in the Final Four (fwiw, Strong's tournament and Final Four showing was just as good though). Midway through sophomore year UCONN was #1 and undefeated and Stewart was the clear favorite for NPOY. I'd give Strong the edge due to a better overall freshman season.

Diana Taurasi: didn't make an All American team as a freshman. Middle of sophomore year, UCONN was #1 and undefeated, but DT wasn't in the NPOY race. Strong with the clear edge over DT through 1.5 years.




Looking ahead, matching or surpassing what those 3 accomplished their finals 2.5 years will be difficult. They combined to win 8 of 9 possible championships and earned POY awards in 8 of 9 possible seasons.

For the remainder of this season, UCONN is the #1 team but isn't as far ahead of the pack as they were during Moore/Stewart/Taurasi's sophomore seasons. A title seems very possible but not an absolute lock like it was been in years past.

In 2026-27 and 2027-28, UCONN will still be in the mix and possibly the favorite, but teams like USC, Texas and South Carolina are all loaded and will be formidable opponents to challenge UCONN. Too early to make clear projections about those teams since every year teams reshape themselves via the transfer portal, but UCONN will be in the title hunt as long as Strong is there.

So this begs the question, when Strong finishes her career at UCONN do you think she will claim the title as best Husky ever?

 

[hoophuskee]

Unsure. Even if she wins all awards this year - there may be 2 years of SoCal being "off-the-charts" through no fault of her own.
Though right now imo her trajectory is leading to best ever.

 

[Bigboote]

It depends on your definition of best. At this point I think ten people would give at least three, possibly five different bests. Will Sarah be better than one or two of them? Yes, barring injury.

I voted yes despite the uncertainty.

 

[HopJim]

Depends on your benchmark. Since Geno always says the UConn goal is to win a national championship, tough for Sarah to win 4 in a row like Stewie. If she does, may be a tie.

 

[Vowelguy]

Hope so but very very hard to pass Stewie.

Not sure I’d say SS frosh was better than BS .

 

[Majic Hands]

I’m just enjoying watching this team evolve and become who they are. Today.


There are plenty of people involved in maintaining and building on what we’ve had the pleasure to see over the years.

 

[oldude]

Don’t know the answer to the OP. But I have been saying for awhile that UConn needs a lot more than 4 spots on Mt Rushmore.

 

[Bone Dog]

Hope so but very very hard to pass Stewie.

Not sure I’d say SS frosh was better than BS .

The stats don't bear this out. Sarah leads her in almost every category. Stewie leads in blocks and free throws.

 

[Cornell Lt]

She certainly can be one of ,if not the greatest Huskie. Time will tell. Although Geno might bench her if the turnovers continue (haha)

 

[EricSD]

The stats don't bear this out. Sarah leads her in almost every category. Stewie leads in blocks and free throws.

Agreed. Stewie was MOP in the final 4 (as a freshman), but she had a solid, if not great, regular season. She didn't get any post season awards - I think was honorable mention for AA? So Sarah had one of the best freshman campaigns (not the best - Maya for example was AA and would have been POY as a freshman if not for Candace Parker).

IMHO Sarah has 2 problems. First, the team has so much elite talent and is so dominant that she plays "limited" minutes and just doesn't have the chance to take 15-18 shots consistently.

Second, she's too unselfish. It's just her nature - total team ball. She could take over every game and score 30, but it's just not her nature.

She does literally everything at an elite level. She's so good at all aspects of her game. Eye test she's easily the best player in the country, but if she doesn't win NPOY, it will be because of lack of scoring, lack of shot attempts, and lack of minutes...

 

[Woof 101]

No attack at the OP but I can't vote on individual players as UConn women play as a team. This is how they have built up the fan base they have. Is she going to be one of the greats hell yea! But each year the supporting cast changes depending on who enters the doors at Storrs and get on the floor ; )
If she stays healthy she will most likely end up getting recognized as one of the best. It's a team thing.

 

[BobbyJ]

I actually typed this all up myself and didn't use any AI but can see how it comes across that way 😂

Sounding literate on a message board can often fake people out. 😉

 

[Skeets]

I voted "NO" because no matter how the next 2.5 years go there will be a significant number of posters who think (pick your GOAT) had a better career. And they will put very reasonable arguments to support their opinions. The bottom line is it's not possible to quantify a career when the teammates are different, the opposition is different, etc.

 

[uh-no]

If she goes 4 for 4... Maybe

 

[Veteran]

Winning four straight National Championship is still a possibility.

But winning four straight Final Four Most Outstanding Player awards is already out of the question. Only one player, men's or women's, has ever done that and we all know who it was.

So, going strictly by recognized achievements, the answer is no. It's still fun to speculate, but does it really matter who is labeled as the greatest ever? Being one of the greatest ever to play for the greatest basketball team in NCAA history is good enough in my opinion.

And Happy New Year everyone.

 

[FollowerCT]

Such comparisons of players as to "who is the best or will be" do not give justice to any of the women Each women is unique and offers extraordinary physical and mental prowess. I simply have enjoyed watching the maturity of these women that has grown over the years from college to the pros to retirement. How lucky to have had and continue to appreciate this experience.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The stats don't bear this out. Sarah leads her in almost every category. Stewie leads in blocks and free throws.

The Big East that Sarah played in her freshman season wasn't the one that Stewie did, so that could account for some of the better numbers for Sarah. Sarah didn't have to contend with playing ND 4 times a season like Stewie did plus Rutgers and Louisville multiple times a season.

 

[Majic Hands]

Don’t know the answer to the OP. But I have been saying for awhile that UConn needs a lot more than 4 spots on Mt Rushmore.

Yep. That’s why I keep saying we have the Supreme Court of players at the Basketball Capital of the world.

 

[Bone Dog]

The Big East that Sarah played in her freshman season wasn't the one that Stewie did, so that could account for some of the better numbers for Sarah. Sarah didn't have to contend with playing ND 4 times a season like Stewie did plus Rutgers and Louisville multiple times a season.

This is a very fair point, at least for comparing freshman seasons. The Big East was tougher in 2012-13 than it was in 2024-25. After 2012-13, UConn switched to the AAC, which is arguably not much better (if at all) from the Big East.

Anyway, this sent me down a rabbit hole, looking for some sort of data to quantify this, like end-of-season SOS data. But I couldn’t find this. The best I could come up with is the per game SRS data, though I don’t have the energy right now to yield a season-long advantage SRS number for comparison. This might require some statistical wizardry which I definitely don’t have.

For Stewie’s freshman season I have this:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/women/2013-schedule.html

And for Sarah’s I have this:

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/women/2025-schedule.html

I sorted the table for SRS and the toughest games rose to the top of the list. Then you can examine each players performance in those toughest games. It’s an interesting exercise, and one thing you notice is that in the early losses Geno trusted Sarah a bit more than Stewie, at least judging from playing time. I think Sarah’s stats in the losses are perhaps a bit better.

I focused on the losses thinking this would reveal something like clutch or high pressure performance. But I don’t know if it really does. The tournament wins might show this more, though here again the schedules may be deceptive. The 2024-25 team seems to have faced one of the most difficult tournament schedules ever, beating Oklahoma USC UCLA and SC, including 3 out of the 4 #1 seeds. But this may be a flawed stat too.

Both Stewie and Sarah were at the top of their games by tournament time so I’m not sure there’s much to distinguish them there. Of course, there is the MOP, which Stewie won and Sarah didn’t. But even this may not be as telling as first appears, since perhaps any of the top 3 in 2024-25 probably could have won it, namely Paige or Sarah or Azzi.

Edited to add: Foolish me. I completely forgot the wonderful HHS table @NycUcWbbFan posted recently that gives a pretty comprehensive set of team ratings, including the period in question:

https://herhoopstats.com/stats/ncaa/team/uconn-huskies-womens-basketball-stats-11e8e149-cbe7-6342-af82-12df17ae4e1e/

In terms of NET rating, the teams the 2012-13 team faced were better, as much as that stat can reveal. But in terms of the other stats in the table, the difference is smaller and even in some cases ambiguous.

 

[sno-cat]

From the Krypton Daily News:

Hands faster that the human eye can follow! More powerful than a charging Husky. Able to shoot baskets from most anywhere on the court or grab rebounds out of thin air or simply relieve opposing players of the basketball whenever she wants to. Look there on the court. It’s a basketball defender’s nightmare and future UConn basketball legend. Its STRONG. Yes, it is indeed STRONG --- strange visitor from another planet, who came to Storrs with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal women. STRONG, who can destroy the hopes and dreams of opposing teams, singlehandedly take over games, and who disguised as our shy, mild mannered “Sarah”, a member of our UConn’s Women’s Basketball Team, fights a never-ending battle for perfection, conference championships and national championships while playing for UConn in the basketball capital of the world.

 

[Vancat]

How about “it’s very possible”?

 

[bayern7]

I was actually crunching some numbers last week, and there's a very high likelihood, assuming she plays a typical UConn number of games (including post season runs) that she'll finish in the top 3-4 in points, rebounds, assists, and steals by the time she graduates. Throw in a couple more championships, maybe she sweeps all 3 remaining, which is certainly a possibility given the current roster and players they've managed to continue bringing in for the next couple years. And I'd say yeah, she has a very real shot at being the statistical/winning-est GOAT of this program. I think the floor for her already is like Maya or Stewie level. NO PRESSURE!!

 

[fomalhaut]

How will we possibly be able to judge when we can't even agree on who the greatest is right now? I know there are at least three different camps.

 

[lonsharkin51]

A little OT, but I was trying to think of a good comparison for Sarah (other than a 6’ 9” Steph Castle with a better jump shot), and it occurred to me that the way she controls the game reminds me of Zinedine Zidane. You youngsters might not get it, but that’s high praise, even if it makes no sense.

 

[Bone Dog]

@lonsharkin51, I remember Zidane! Only the greatest French player ever, and the greatest center half ever to play the game. He had the ball on a string. Getting the ball away from him was like trying to get a bone from Jonathan the 12th.

PS: I’m still pissed about the way he was treated by Italy in that last World Cup.