Strong to UConn [merged thread]

[browns]

Thanks Cferraro for the call while I was on the golf course. This makes UConn almost unbeatable. We are number 1 and the team to beat next season. SC will be very good too but UConn imo is gonna be the team to beat. No more double teaming Paige when you've got what UConns got. Geno is gonna have alot of players who demand minutes, so we wont be tired at the end of the game and we are deep enough and big enough to handle every other team. Let me say this. With Sarah committing maybe just maybe the BIG O commits early and maybe Lara commits sooner too.

Every time you say "almost unbeatable" it hasn't worked out that way

 

[NW-MW]

Sarah has incredible touch from all areas of the court. She is pretty special and a great person to have on the team. She will mellow us out and our other players will bring her inner DAWG out.

 

[asuwish]

Nice. She looks like she could be our next all american center based on clips I’ve seen. I hope so

She's not a post player. Jana 6'5" will technically a freshman and she is the true post except both like to shoot the 3. Add 6'2" Morgan shooting outside and our ability to spread the floor will amazing.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

She does pay attention. Asked about things that lead to UConn, she responded a winning tradition and it sends people to the WNBA and that's what I want.

 

[RoadMaster]

Per this article, Sarah knew she was going to UConn since 10th grade, when Geno, Morgan Valley, and Jemele Elliot came to a tiny gym and told her what she needs to get better at. She says that other schools would tell her how good she is, but they kept it honest with her. From Spain to Storrs: Top recruit Sarah Strong's personal path to UConn

Great article.. Thanks for post!ing!

 

[RoadMaster]

There’s joy in Mudville again!

Mighty Geno hasn't struck out..!

 

[Zonepress]

is it too premature to think of a starting 5 and a second five?...ready or not here's mine starting 5 Paige, Azzi, Sarah, Jana, and Aubrey....second 5 KK, Ice, Patterson, Shade, Allie...bench Chelli, Amari, Inez...other opinions valued...Ducharme's head injury is too hard to predict so she's left out

Would love to see Azzi in the starting lineup
But not sure how realistic that is as her surgery
Was in December not to mention it’s the second acl on the same knee
Aubrey same situation with surgery in mid january
My hope is that by January they are able to
Contribute
Hopefully sooner!!!

 

[CONNCAN]

Amari DeBerry - 6'6"
Jana El Alfy - 6'5"
Ice Brady - 6'3"
Ayanna Patterson - 6'2"/6'3" (?)
Carolyn Ducharme - 6'2"
Sarah Strong - 6'2"
Morgan Chelli - 6'2"
Aubrey Griffin - 6'1"
Paige Bueckers - 6'0
Qadence Samuels - 6'0"
Allie Ziebell - 6'0"
Azzi Fudd - 5'11"
Ashlynn Shade - 5'10"
KK Arnold - 5'9"
Ines Bettencourt - 5'9"

Are you kidding me?

Great list of players for Geno to choose from (but someone might not be happy about our New "Crowded House")

 

[CONNCAN]

Welcome Sarah, now all us loyal Husky followers can spend the summer hypothesizing about our new lineup (assuming all are healthy). Jana and Amari at the 5 (C) is easy, Paige back to the 2 (SG )is also easy. KK at the 1 (PG) competing with Morgan and ? Sarah at the 4 (PF) competing with ? and finally Azzi at the 3 (SF) competing with ?. Please help me out here and fill in the ? with names and order of preference. And now should I assume the roster to be complete with all scholarships filled? Does that leave out Emely?

Where's UCONN'S "Swiss Army Knife" Aubrey Griffin in all of this?

 

[WiseWillie]

I litterally had tears of joy when I heard the news. We now have Aaliyah's replacement from day one, This WILL now be one of Uconn's best teams EVER! I will finally see NO.12. Welcome, with all my heart, SARAH!!!! Uconn NOW has two legitimate starting five's To put on the floor and wear any team into the ground. THIS NEWS ALMOST MAKES UP THE HORRIBLE LOSS TO IOWA,BUT, NOT QUITE. I can feel better all this summer and look forward to Uconn's coming FANTASTIC season. GO SARAH!!!!! GO FRESHMEN!!!! GO HUSKIES!!!!

Ok let’s start the debate. She is not a center! She’s not playing the 5.

Hmmm. How about out on the perimeter in the SG position? Please. Stop with slotting her into the 5 position. That she certainly isn't. Geno and one of the best assistants and coaching staffs in the college game have been at this a few years and are more than capable of determining how Sarah can best improve her many skills in becoming a great UConn player.

 

[Zarathustra]

Okay, it dawned on me that we could use this here:

To my way of thinking ... this is a MUST view highlight tape of Sarah's talent for
those of us who have not watched her play before. These are the 3X3 international
games when Sarah and her teammates put it to the likes of France, Germany, and
a multitude of others. I viewed many of these games previously (most of these shown were at
the 3X3 FIBA world championships). Watch for the behind the back dribble, the
three points from the corners, and Sarah diving for the loose ball. Bring it on SARAH,
we have been watching you for YEARS!!

 

[Kaizen]

From Spain to Storrs: Top recruit Sarah Strong's personal path to UConn​

She first went to UConn to see a practice and visit the campus during her sophomore year when she and her friends took a trip to Boston. She then visited the campus a handful of times for practices or games after that and her official visit was during UConn's annual First Night weekend, the only weekend the UConn program hosts official visits in the fall. Fellow future classmates Allie Ziebell and Morgan Cheli attended as well and Strong has since studied their games.

"They are both really good players -- they have different styles, but they both have strong games. Allie can really shoot and Morgan is a little bit of everything -- her footwork is really good when I've watched her play," she said.

From Spain to Storrs: Top recruit Sarah Strong's personal path to UConn

UConn commit Sarah Strong's basketball journey hasn't been exactly traditional but the latest step might just be.

www.espn.com

 

[hoophuskee]

South Carolina's roster is loaded and all but one are coming back AND they have a great recruiting class coming in. The real question is can anyone be close to them next year.

If UCONN were healthy, why wouldn't you think UCONN would be close?

 

[UcMiami]

Now I would like to be told the story behind the drama. Some will surely respond that this is none of our biz. OK. But it is a good story that deserves to be revealed. I hope we get it.

Why the long hold-out? Why the delay in making the reveal?

I am pretty sure this was out of respect for Nika and Aaliyah and Paige - if she committed in the early period, everyone would have spent the last 4 months speculating on who was either turning pro or being asked to leave as there was no room at the inn.

And waiting not just for the announcements but also for the season to end made sense.

(Just proves that ESPN had already told her that it was in the bag that Iowa was winning last night, when the announcement schedule was disclosed yesterday afternoon before the game even started. )

 

[The CDR-Ret]

Iowa can have the W last night (and the L tomorrow), as I sense more big W's in our near future with Sarah in the fold.

6.022 x 10^23 times YES!!!! [For all the Huskies fans who know their Chemistry!]

This was the PERFECT Day for fantastic News!!!

Hopefully, the ENTIRE Womens Team Can go cheer on the GUYS as they win their Final Four game and AGAIN on Monday night, as a Pre-View of Next Year's run to NC #12!

 

[mhshuskies]

That is a big win for UConn. Like I have always said UConn has great players all the way down the bench. Geno will have his hands full figuring out who to put on the court.

Let’s just hope more are available to play than are injured.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

This is huge. I think Geno knew this all along kudos to him for keeping it close to the chest. This makes what was to be an incredible team even more incredible!!! Right about now Tonyc is about to tee off in a golf tournament and he hears the news, and his tee shot goes awry and ends up in the water...lol I am somewhat giddy myself.

...OR onto the 18th Green and "IT'S in the HOLE!!!" for a "Round in ONE" 71 under par.

Who cares about all the other "Up and Downs"

As my 1st Commodore at SUBPACRep West Coast said, "God loves US!" ==> will tell the rest of the story later [much] This is Huskie Nation's Day of Happiness! God willing, the women will be cutting down the nets in about 366 days from now!

 

[mhshuskies]

ESPN is having difficulty sharing the video but here's the story is on the Homepage:
UConn gets commitment from top-ranked recruit Sarah Strong

 

[Biff]

6.022 x 10^23 times YES!!!! [For all the Huskies fans who know their Chemistry!]

This was the PERFECT Day for fantastic News!!!

Hopefully, the ENTIRE Womens Team Can go cheer on the GUYS as they win their Final Four game and AGAIN on Monday night, as a Pre-View of Next Year's run to NC #12!

 

[mhshuskies]

Love what she says when asked why UCONN and Geno, “I just want to be coached by him” and how she will fit in “I don’t care, whatever I have to do”, great!

 

[superjohn]

Did anyone mention who her mother is? She's Allison Feaster from Harvard, WNBA and a Boston Celtics VP of Team Operations & Organizational Growth and her Harvard team a #16 seed beat a #1 seed Stanford too

And her father Danny Strong was a really good player at NC State.

 

[The CDR-Ret]

She's not a center. She's a wing/power forward.

Don't care what position anyone thinks she is! She is a fantastic UConn HUSKIE, and she is what Geno Says she is, and the BEST news is that she is COOL with that!

Whatever, UConn needs she wil Get 'R Done!

 

[David54]

Hmmm. How about out on the perimeter in the SG position? Please. Stop with slotting her into the 5 position. That she certainly isn't. Geno and one of the best assistants and coaching staffs in the college game have been at this a few years and are more than capable of determining how Sarah can best improve her many skills in becoming a great UConn player.

But that’s what I said. She’s not a five.

 

[hoophuskee]

I think by now Geno has learned the hard way that some freshmen can deliver the goods if given the opportunity..........watching Dawn substitute player after player without a noticeable drop in performance is what I'd like to see at UConn next season.......no reason they can't go ten deep or more during most games.....

Dont agree with the context of this post. If there is any learning, then imo I beeeive some fans learned the hard way that size isn't everything and that a team with an extreme short bench can still be terriific.

Why would anyone would think that Geno is making playing time mistakes enough to be very critical of-- while he goes to so many Final Fours still and he keeps recruiting at top 3 level year over year? - they would be very wrong imo.

Paige Bueckers came to UCONN her frosh year and we all read the quotes that she would tell Gneo "You owe me minutes."
And now that Sarah is coming do we really think as the number 1 recruit that she wont be anticiipatiing playing huge minutes in close games?

In blowouts, when hsi team is healthy and he has enough players - which he hasn't had in many since 2016-2016- he always plays his bench.

 

[Kaizen]

South Carolina's roster is loaded and all but one are coming back AND they have a great recruiting class coming in. The real question is can anyone be close to them next year.

Next year We have Paige, Azzi, Caroline, KK, Shade and Sarah.
You think we are not close to South Carolina? You are absolutely wrong.