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She’s got fast reflexes. Excellent hand-eye coordination. An incredible IQ for reading angles. And, you’ll often see her getting a hand on the ball. She’s Sarah Strong, UConn’s rising star and a reliable helping hand for Azzi Fudd. Hard to believe she’s just 19 years old, yet her skills already resemble those of the greats. But does her legendary coach see her the same way? Well…he does. As he puts it better himself, “If there’s a player in the NBA that most resembles how Sarah plays, it would be Jokić for sure,” as quoted by BRWS Sports on Instagram. Well, that’s high praise. Especially since Geno’s been with UConn since 1985 and in his career across four decades, he’s sent several polished stars to W, including Paige Bueckers, Diana Taurasi, and Napheesa Collier. And now with 12 national championships to his name, he enters his 41st season as one of college basketball’s most seasoned coaches. But even after all these years, he still sees a special spark in Sarah Strong. And, honestly, he has enough reasons. ADVERTISEMENT At 6’2”, Sarah is often the strongest and most skilled player on the court. That’s exactly what makes her so frustrating for opponents. She can dominate the low block one moment, then step out to drain an open three the next. But it doesn’t stop there. She can split double teams, read defenses, and pass with precision. Sometimes she’ll find an open teammate 25 feet away with just a flick of her wrist – a skill you can see in the viral clip shared by BRWS Sports. As Geno has also said, “When you have a player like Sarah that can rebound the ball like she rebounds it and then start the break and bring the ball up the floor, I think that’s a whole new dynamic,” UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said following the Louisville game. “We’ve had some of those guys in the past, whether it was [Breanna Stewart] or Maya Moore, that could be great rebounders and just bring the ball up the floor, so I really believe it adds a different dimension to our offense. Because she’s such a gifted passer, there’s a lot of opportunities.” ADVERTISEMENT So, it isn’t really a surprise that her peers draw parallels between her and Nikola Jokić, the Denver Nuggets’ three-time NBA MVP. Yes, it’s not just Geno making the comparison. Even Diana Taurasi echoed the sentiment: “Baby Jokić – I mean, her footwork, her hands, the way she sees the court – she’s really, really special,” she told Sue Bird on ESPN back on April 8. Well, Strong’s freshman year at UConn was something else. She grabbed a freshman-team high 356 rebounds and poured in 657 points, which is second-most for a UConn freshman and makes her only the second Husky after Maya Moore to top 600 points in a freshman season. She also sits second among UConn freshmen in both assists (142) and steals (92), and holds the NCAA freshman single-tournament scoring mark with 114 points. ADVERTISEMENT Read Top Stories First From EssentiallySports Click here and check box next to EssentiallySports In the national title game, she put the stamp on it: 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting, 15 rebounds and five assists, a performance that overwhelmed Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team. And that is exactly when people began calling her the “Baby Jokic” with chants. What further stands out is her court sense. She seems to know where the play will go before it happens, is always in the right spot, and lifts teammates around her. If she keeps this up, she’s surely on her way to joining the list of UConn greats. And all of this? She does it with cool confidence. “I try not to think of it as pressure. I’m just out there playing basketball,” Strong once said. ADVERTISEMENT But how did she get to this level? For Sarah, her skill set comes from relentless work – and a little bit of DNA. She’s the daughter of former WNBA player Allison Feaster and former NC State player Danny Strong. Her mother led Harvard to the historic upset over No. 1 seed Stanford as a 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, one of the greatest moments in women’s basketball history. Meanwhile, her father played for the Wolfpack from 1995–97. So, she’s got basketball in her genes. Adding to that is a lifetime of learning from greats. “I watched a lot of Maya Moore growing up… I watched my parents play too, so I just tried to do what they did because they were really good back in the day,” Sarah once revealed the secret sauce. And clearly those lessons paid off. She’s become a three-level scorer and elite rebounder. Well, yes, she’s definitely a luxury UConn has. And that can be proved with the two games she’s played in the 2025-26 season so far. To start with, she led UConn with 21 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, helping the Huskies beat the Louisville team 79–66. She followed that up with another 21-point outing (7-for-10 FG), adding nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks, and two steals in UConn’s 32-point win over Florida State. So yes – Geno’s faith in her game is paying off.
