Sarah Strong says Europe helped shape her UConn game
UConn star Sarah Strong told CBS Sports her years in Spain helped build the court vision now driving her college rise.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Sarah Strong’s UConn Europe connection is not a neat backstory tucked behind the basketball. It is part of the engine. The UConn star told CBS Sports during WNBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago that growing up around the professional game overseas helped form the way she plays now.
Strong spoke at the Basketball Without Borders All-Star Camp, held at the Chicago Bulls’ practice facility near United Center, CBS Sports’ Jack Maloney reported. The event brought together 40 top international women’s basketball prospects from nearly two dozen countries during the same weekend Chicago hosted the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game.
The campers included 2026 U20 EuroBasket Women MVP Sarah Cisse and Aïnhoa Risacher, the younger sister of former NBA No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher, according to CBS Sports. Strong, already several steps ahead on the road those players hope to travel, addressed the group and answered questions.
How did Europe shape Sarah Strong’s basketball?
Strong told CBS Sports that basketball overseas exposed her to a style centered on fundamentals and decision-making. She said watching and playing in that environment gave her a wider understanding of the game.
Strong was born in Madrid while her parents, Allison Feaster and Danny Strong, were playing professionally abroad, CBS Sports reported. Feaster, who served as camp director in Chicago, is also the Boston Celtics’ vice president of team operations.
Strong began playing in the youth program at Club Baloncesto Alcobendas in Madrid while Feaster was with the club from 2013 to 2016, according to CBS Sports. She also spent long hours around her mother’s practices and games, absorbing the rhythms of the professional level before she was old enough to drive.
Feaster told CBS Sports that Strong’s years in Spain helped shape her identity, including how she connects with Spanish culture and basketball culture. Feaster said that broader exposure affected how Strong sees and plays the game.
Strong later moved to the United States at age 10 after her parents’ playing careers ended, CBS Sports reported. Since then, she has become the No. 1 recruit in her high school class, a four-time gold medalist with Team USA, a 2025 NCAA national champion and the 2026 Naismith Player of the Year.
CBS Sports also reported that Strong, who has dual citizenship with France and speaks multiple languages, is projected as the No. 1 pick in the 2028 WNBA Draft.
Who influences Sarah Strong now?
Strong told CBS Sports she still studies European stars, pointing to Luka Dončić’s tempo and Nikola Jokić’s passing as parts of their games she admires. That tracks with the player UConn has: big, skilled, patient and comfortable making reads.
Her UConn locker room has had an international flavor, too. CBS Sports noted that Strong has already played with teammates from Egypt, Ecuador and Ireland, and that the Huskies are adding players tied to France, Serbia and Croatia this season.
Strong told CBS Sports she values the creativity and intelligence of UConn’s international players, saying they show her ideas she had not considered.
Her next job in Storrs is different. CBS Sports reported that Strong is entering her junior season without veterans Paige Bueckers, Kaitlyn Chen and Azzi Fudd around her, after UConn’s Final Four loss to South Carolina. Strong said her role is shifting toward more leadership, both vocally and through her play, as the Huskies pursue a 13th national championship.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS Sports.