Girls Basketball

No. 1-ranked women's basketball recruit Sarah Strong picks UConn

The two-time Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year in girls basketball is also a three-time N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association champion, leading the Crusaders to the 1A title, 2A title, and 3A title in three consecutive seasons.
Posted 2024-04-06T15:28:57+00:00 - Updated 2024-04-06T15:30:40+00:00

Grace Christian School of Sanford's Sarah Strong has picked the Huskies.

Strong committed to UConn on Saturday, choosing the 11-time women's basketball champions over Duke and UNC.

The two-time Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year in girls basketball is also a three-time N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association champion, leading the Crusaders to the 1A title, 2A title, and 3A title in three consecutive seasons.

She averaged 21.0 points, 16.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.8 steals, and 1.8 blocks while shooting 52 percent from the field, 36 percent from 3, and 79 percent from the free throw line for her 30-0 team.

Her do-it-all game at her 6-foot-2 height has inspired player comparisons to Nikola Jokic of the NBA's Denver Nuggets.

Strong finished her high school career with 2,302 points and 1,628 rebounds and has been selected by USA Basketball for the 2024 USA Women's Junior National Select Team. She won the 2024 Jersey Mike's Naismith High School Player of the Year Trophy and was also selected to the McDonald's All-American Game, where she was MVP.

ESPN and Prospects Nation both rank Strong as the No. 1 overall player in the country from the Class of 2024.

She played her freshman year at Fuquay-Varina.

Strong is the daughter of former WNBA player Allison Feaster and N.C. State player Danny Strong. Strong was a power forward who played two years for the Wolfpack in 95-97 then played pro overseas for 15 years. Feaster, who led 16-seed Harvard over 1-seed Stanford in the greatest upset in the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament history, was a WNBA guard for 10 seasons in the WNBA and is now the Vice President of Player Development and Organizational Growth with the Boston Celtics.

Sarah Strong of Grace Christian. Grace Christian’s top-ranked girls team improved to 21-0 on the season with a 76-46 win at North Raleigh Christian on January 23, 2024. (Photo: Evan Moesta/HighSchoolOT.com)
Sarah Strong of Grace Christian. Grace Christian’s top-ranked girls team improved to 21-0 on the season with a 76-46 win at North Raleigh Christian on January 23, 2024. (Photo: Evan Moesta/HighSchoolOT.com)

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