FORT WORTH, TX―Sarah Strong grew up just down the road from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, close enough to follow the Tar Heels' program as a child. Now, the UConn sophomore is poised to eliminate North Carolina from the NCAA Tournament.
The 2026 first-team All-American and UConn's leader in points, rebounds, steals and blocks will lead the top-seeded Huskies against No. 4-seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Friday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).
"They were one of my top schools, I almost went there," Strong said. "I really am a big fan of UNC. I wanted to stay home at one point."
North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart and her staff pursued the "generational prospect" aggressively during the 2024 recruiting cycle, hoping to keep the state's top player close to home.
"Sarah has been in my house. I spent a lot of time interviewing Sarah Strong," Banghart said. "We played them last year in Greensboro, and my kids, who were young, ran right up to her and hugged her because they clearly missed her."
When decision time came, the opportunity to join one of the sport's most decorated programs proved too compelling for the No. 1 overall recruit.
UConn Huskies forward
Sarah Strong (21) named Big East Player Of The Year as they celebrate their Big East Championship win over the Villanova Wildcats at Mohegan Sun Arena on Mar 9, 2026." style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" />
Sarah Strong, UConn look for perfection and another championship
UConn Huskies forwardSarah Strong(21) named Big East Player Of The Year as they celebrate their Big East Championship win over the Villanova Wildcats at Mohegan Sun Arena on Mar 9, 2026.
"I just looked at winning, and I saw coach (Geno) and what he's built here, the great history, and I just really wanted to be part of that," Strong said.
Basketball has surrounded Strong since her childhood. Her mother, Allison Feaster, starred at Harvard ― where the No. 16 seed Crimson defeated No. 1 Stanford in the 1998 NCAA Tournament ― before playing in the WNBA from 1998-2008. Her father, Danny Strong, played collegiately at NC State, and both parents later built professional careers overseas.
Strong spent the first decade of her life in Spain while her parents played, then moved to Durham, North Carolina. Tar Heels sophomore center Blanca Thomas remembers high school matchups against Strong, noting her skills even then.
"It's been really cool to see how she gets better every year, seeing how she has grown since the first year I ever played her as a true post to now, where she's such a versatile player," Thomas said. "She was always good, and after two or three years playing against each other, and seeing the big growth year to year, I knew that she could be something super special."
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Despite the deep basketball pedigree, Strong said her parents did not insist she play.
"They always made sure that I wanted to do it, that I wanted to one day play college basketball and hopefully one day professionally – she always asked me that," Strong said. "So they never pushed me to do anything. I like it, I was always on it."
The result has been one of the most impactful sophomore seasons in the country. Strong was named the USWBA Player of the Year and became the first UConn player since the 2016-17 season to record more than 100 steals in a single season ― all with a WNBA top-five pick in Azzi Fudd on the team.
Strong noted she enjoys the culture she felt upon arriving in Storrs, Connecticut. The relationships inside the Huskies' locker room quickly reinforced her decision.
"I have a bunch of sisters that I've made friends with when I first got here," she said. "All the relationships that I made out of basketball are really important to me."
Now, Strong's path circles back to the school she nearly chose. UConn and North Carolina have met only once before in the NCAA Tournament: a 1994 Tar Heels' victory in a season that ended with their only national championship.
While Benghart recognizes the challenges Strong and the Huskies possess, she knows at least one Tar Heel fan will be happy to see her.
"When we saw we would draw UConn if we kept winning, my daughter said, 'Oh, I get to see Sarah Strong,'" she said.
Andy Mathis is a student in the University of Georgia 's Carmical Sports Media Institute
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:North Carolina native Sarah Strong will lead UConn against UNC in the Sweet 16
FORT WORTH, TX―Sarah Strong grew up just down the road from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, close enough to follow the Tar ...
