Celtics 
Sarah Strong leads UConn in rebounds (8.5 per game), steals (2.4), and blocks (1.7). She’s also averaging 16.1 points. Jessica Hill
March 27, 2025
The first emotion that came to Allison Feaster’s mind was gratitude.
Her daughter, Sarah Strong, is helping lead UConn women’s basketball through the NCAA Tournament, with the Huskies taking on Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.
Feaster, the vice president of team operations and organizational growth for the Celtics, is grateful for the responsibility of guiding Strong on this journey.
Strong, after all, is no ordinary freshman. The 6-foot-2-inch forward was the nation’s No. 1-ranked high school girls’ basketball player last season, per ESPN.
This season, the 19-year-old leads UConn in rebounds (8.5 per game), steals (2.4), and blocks (1.7). She’s also averaging 16.1 points while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. Earlier this month, she was named as one of five finalists for the Cheryl Miller Award, which is given to the nation’s top small forward.
“I think the best part is playing the role of mom and having zero control other than supporting and uplifting her and guiding her whenever needed,” Feaster said. “Also, being a part of the UConn basketball family is something I cherish and I value and I’m super thankful for. The staff is great. The other parents understand the journey. It’s a wonderful tradition and I’m thankful to be a part of it.”
During Feaster’s senior season in 1998, she helped lead Harvard to an upset of Stanford, becoming the first 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history to beat a No. 1. This weekend, she’ll continue watching Strong make March Madness memories of her own.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma has overseen women’s college basketball’s greatest dynasty since 1985. He knows talent when he sees it.
“She impacts the game in every single area, whether she’s defending somebody and it’s a steal, whether it’s a blocked shot, a defensive rebound, an offensive rebound,” Auriemma said of Strong.
Sarah Strong is having a dominant freshman season for UConn.
UConn is built around superstar Paige Bueckers, who is averaging 19.2 points in her final season in Storrs, Conn., before entering the WNBA Draft.
But UConn wouldn’t be 33-3 and a No. 2 seed without Strong.
“I always like to think that we don’t want to play with both Sarah and Paige on the bench. That’s not something that is good for us,” Auriemma said. “That’s how important I think [Strong] is. I’m OK with Paige being out of the game as long as Sarah is in the game because I think she — it’s more like having two or three players out there instead of just one.”
Strong’s NCAA Tournament debut in the first round against Arkansas State was dominant. She became the first player in 25 years to have at least 20 points, 12 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 5 assists in a women’s tournament game, and she did it in just 21 minutes. She chipped in 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists as UConn cruised past South Dakota State in the second round.
The unanimous Big East freshman of the year didn’t just grow up around basketball, she was immersed in it from the very beginning.
Feaster, who was the No. 5 overall pick in the 1998 WNBA Draft, played the 2005 season with the Charlotte Sting while pregnant with Strong. She was teammates with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.
“I don’t know how we don’t get Sarah Strong,” Staley said with a shrug before UConn beat South Carolina last month. “But they did a great job recruiting her. I think she felt comfortable there. It seems like a great fit for her, being able to utilize all of her skill set.”
“And I haven’t talked to Allison since,” Staley added with a laugh. “No, I’m kidding.”
Strong said her parents let her choose where she wanted to go to school, and she always wanted UConn.
“It’s always been my dream school,” she said. ”Most of my favorite players played here and were coached by Coach Geno and the great coaching staff. They develop their players really well, and they send a lot of them to the professional leagues. I just wanted to follow in their footsteps.”
Strong’s father, Danny Strong, played at N.C. State and averaged 12.5 points per game. He and Feaster played professionally overseas. Strong was born in Madrid and spent the bulk of her childhood in Europe watching her parents chase their dreams.
Feaster joined the NBA’s basketball operations management development program after she retired in 2016, and she was hired by the Celtics in 2019. Danny Strong started a nonprofit youth sports organization and coached high school and AAU basketball.
“They were a big part of my basketball journey,” Sarah said. “My dad pretty much trained me my whole life. I never really had anyone else. My mom as well, just from a distance, with her working in Boston and stuff like that, but pretty much my whole AAU, middle school, elementary school years were just me and my dad and his organization where he does basketball and family around me.”
Strong is a scoring threat from inside and outside. She has touch around the basket, can knock down midrange jumpers, and is a 36.9 percent 3-point shooter. She’s often too quick for post players and too powerful for guards. She reminds Auriemma of UConn’s first All-American, Kerry Bascom.
“Sarah is the 35-year evolution of Kerry,” Auriemma said. “Kerry was one-of-a-kind back then, so if anybody wants to know who is most responsible for what’s happened at Connecticut, it’s a kid from Epping, N.H., who just came to UConn.
“If she was playing today, she would be Sarah. Same exact player. Identical. When we first saw her, when [assistant coach] Jamelle [Elliott] and I first saw her play, that’s exactly what I said. That’s Kerry Bascom. That’s a hell of a thing.”
Those skills, along with versatility and a knack for seeing plays before they develop, can make Strong tough to game-plan for.
“She’s just a matchup nightmare,” said St. John’s coach Joe Tartamella. “It reminds me of some of the players that UConn has had in the past where the versatility is just really difficult to match up with, whether she can beat you from the outside. And right now that’s probably where you hope she beats you, and that will probably change because their players always get better.”
Strong’s passing ability is both the best and worst thing about her game, Auriemma said. She’s one of the best passers UConn has ever had, the coach said, but she sometimes defers to teammates too much for a player with her scoring abilities. She averaged five assists while shooting 16 for 19 (84.2 percent) from the field in her first two tournament games.
Auriemma said he and Strong’s parents have been “ganging up” on her to encourage her to be more aggressive, take more risks, and shoot more. Her unselfishness is one of many things that endears her to teammates.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma has encouraged freshman Sarah Strong to be more aggressive and not defer to teammates. – Jessica Hill
“There’s nothing on the court that she can’t do, so you feel like every single time a ball comes off the rim, she’s going to grab the rebound,” Bueckers said. “Any time you throw it to her, she’s going to catch it and finish and make a great play. She can pass. She defends, rebounds. She can score at all three levels. It’s extremely fun to play with her and extremely easy.”
As she continues to adjust to the spotlight, Strong can come across as shy and reserved during interviews. She’s quiet and poker-faced on the court, Bueckers said, but her quick wit and love of laughter shines through when she’s with her teammates away from the cameras.
“Sarah is quietly one of the funniest people I know. She has a great sense of humor. She’s witty and she’s really no-nonsense,” Feaster said. ”What you see is what you get. She’s not going to give you fluff just to appease you. I love that about her. She’ll keep it real.”
With Strong at UConn, Feaster is able to see more of her games in person. It was more difficult in previous years when Strong was in high school in North Carolina.
“I watch it all,” Feaster said. ”In person, I’ve probably been at well over 50 percent of her games. If I’m not there, and I’m with our team, then I’m watching on TV all the time. I don’t miss a game.”
Seeing her mother at the games means a lot, Strong said. So do the moments they spend off the court.
“She has played where I want to play,” Strong said. “She has done what I want to do. So, any time I need anything, I just go talk to her.”
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