After being named the consensus National Player of the Year in 2026, UConn women’s basketball junior Sarah Strong made the Associated Press’ Preseason All-American team. She was the only unanimous selection.
USC’s JuJu Watkins, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, Texas’ Madison Booker and Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes were also named AP Preseason All-Americans.
As a sophomore, Strong averaged 18.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.4 steals and 1.6 blocks — all of which led the Huskies — to go along with 3.8 assists while
shooting 58.2 percent overall and 40.4 percent from three. She took home plenty of hardware over the course of the year: Big East Player of the Year, Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Big East Tournament Most Outstanding Player, consensus First Team All-American and every major National Player of the Year award — to name just the headliners.
Strong is expected to take on an event bigger role as a junior with fellow unanimous First Team All-American Azzi Fudd now off to the WNBA. Through UConn’s two preseason games, she’s averaged 21.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.0 steals and 1.5 blocks.
Earlier in the week, the Huskies were ranked No. 2 in the AP Preseason Poll. They close up their preseason slate on Sunday against Army and then begin the regular season on Nov. 2 against Cornell.
