Sarah Strong, the 6-foot-2 incoming freshman, is already being likened by UConn’s legendary head coach Geno Auriemma to Kerry Bascom, one of the best players in program history.

Geno Auriemma has high expectations for Sarah Strong, one of UConn’s prized incoming players who is the top-ranked incoming freshman in the nation for next women’s college basketball season.

Strong, the 6-foot-2 newcomer, gives Auriemma and UConn a player who can defend and shoot the basketball efficiently, which helps in relieving pressure from star Paige Bueckers. In her final high school season, the incoming UConn big averaged 21.0 points, 16.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.

What’s more, Strong shot better than 40 percent from 3-point land in 12 of her 29 games last year, showing her ability to connect from both inside the arc and beyond it. It’s Strong’s multifaceted ability on the court that has caused Auriemma to liken her to one of his first recruits, Kerry Bascom.

“You need players that are exceptionally confident,” Auriemma said, per Connecticut Insider. “You can’t come play here if you think you’re good, right? That’s not gonna work. … I think the best players are the ones that go, ‘Coach, I can fill any position you want me to play. Just put me in that spot, put me on the court, and I’ll figure it out. And she’s that kind of kid. I can put her anywhere.”

With Strong’s ability to be impactful in multiple areas of the court, Auriemma is hoping the young star could do what Bascom did in her four years with the Huskies. Playing from 1987 to 1991, the 6-foot-1 Bascom made her mark as one of the best players in program history.

After averaging 8.4 points and 5.4 rebounds in 27 games in her freshman season, Bascom showed out in her final three years under Auriemma’s guidance. From her sophomore to senior seasons, Bascom averaged 21.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, shooting 51.6 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

Sarah Strong, center, looks to expand her game under Geno Auriemma’s tutelage.
Because of her exploits in her final three seasons at UConn, Bascom has made her mark in program history. She currently is third in points per game (18.1), third in free throw percentage (79.6 percent), tied for fourth in free throws made (410), eighth in points (2,177), eighth in rebounds per game (7.6), ninth in field goals made (803) and free throw attempts (515).

Though there is no telling what Strong will do as a Husky, Auriemma certainly has high hopes for the incoming freshman, who was also the No. 1-ranked recruit in the 2024 class. Strong’s high school coach, Chad Revelle, believes that the sky is the limit for the budding star.

“She literally can play every position,” Revelle told The State last year. “She stretches the floor inside to out. … It’s cliché to say that the ceiling is the roof … But you’ve got a girl that can do all she can do and stretch the floor and play the one through five positions. It is pretty incredible and fun to watch.”

With Strong and incoming transfer Kaitlyn Chen set to ease the sting of losing Nika Muhl and Aaliyah Edwards, Auriemma has another set of players to mold around Bueckers. And in his own words, the addition of Strong and Chen proved to be a major win in his book.

“You try to think, ‘This is what I think we need. And this is the person that I think fills that need.’ And you just hope you’re right. That’s it,” the legendary head coach said to Connecticut Insider. “And I think we get it right more times than we get it wrong. And these kids that we have this year, I think we got it right man.

“Just watching them work out, being around them every day, I think we got it right. I think we got it right last year, and I feel really, really good about where we are right now.”