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Executive order aims to limit NCAA athletes to 5 years, 1 transfer
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Dan Murphy
Multiple Authors
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday designed to limit how long athletes can play college sports and how often they can transfer between schools.
The order directs the NCAA to create rules that mandate college athletes can play for “no more than a five-year period” and allows them to transfer schools only once before they graduate without having to sit out a season. The rule changes are scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1. A school that plays an athlete who doesn’t meet these new limits could risk losing its federal funding.
The order also states that the NCAA should update its rules to create a national registry for player agents and create policies that prevent schools from cutting scholarships or other opportunities for women’s and Olympic sports in order to pay their athletes.
“College sports cannot function without clear, agreed-upon rules concerning pay-for-play and player eligibility that can’t be endlessly challenged in court, as is the case now,” the White House said in a news release about the order.
Multiple lawyers who work with colleges and their athletes told ESPN they believe that judges would rule the president’s order to be unconstitutional and unenforceable if challenged in court.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said during a media availability in Phoenix before the Women’s Final Four that he had not read the entire executive order yet, but from what he saw on social media, “there’s a bunch of things in there that are pretty consistent with the things we’ve been talking to them and to Congress about.”
“We need congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things, which is good because we do, and getting a bipartisan agreement on a number of those issues would be a really big thing,” Baker said. “Based on my own conversations with a lot of Democrats and Republicans in Washington over the course of the past month or two, I do think there’s a lot of common ground there.”
Asked why the NCAA needs an executive order to help solve its issues, Baker said, “On some of these issues, it’s hard for us to do this without at least some support from the feds. The courts are one way to settle the debate, but it takes a really long time, and it creates a lot of uncertainty.”
Trump acknowledged that his administration would likely be sued when he first mentioned his plans for an executive order during a roundtable with college sports leaders in early March. Trump has used the threat of pulling federal funds from universities as a negotiating tactic and as an effort to enforce other policies during his second term, with mixed success. In September, a federal judge prevented the Trump administration from withholding federal funds from Harvard as punishment for the university’s decision not to comply with an executive order related to alleged antisemitic behavior on campus.
Trump has expressed interest in helping the college sports industry find its balance multiple times in the past year. Several dozen college sports leaders joined Trump and other sports executives at the White House roundtable discussion in early March in search of a way for the federal government to restore some power to the NCAA and its schools. Trump said at that meeting that he intended to write an executive order within a week that would “solve every problem in this room.”
The NCAA has struggled to enforce its rules since a Supreme Court decision in 2021 made clear that the organization was not exempt from antitrust laws, which prevent any group of businesses from colluding to limit the earning potential of their labor market.
Since then, the organization has changed its rules to allow athletes to transfer every year and has had mixed results in fighting dozens of lawsuits filed by athletes who wanted to continue playing after their eligibility expired. Current NCAA rules allow athletes to play four seasons during a five-year window.
Friday’s order is the second attempt from the Trump administration to use its executive power to create some change in college sports. His first order, signed in July 2025, did not have any notable impact on how the industry is governed. Multiple college sports stakeholders told ESPN they hope the new order serves as a powerful signal to Congress, which has the ability to provide more meaningful and durable change.
After more than five years of discussing options and proposing bills, neither the U.S. House nor the Senate has held a full vote on any legislation related to college sports. The House has twice delayed a vote on a bill known as the SCORE Act since September. Sources told ESPN this week that the bill could be amended and reintroduced at some point in April.
In the Senate, Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Maria Cantwell are actively negotiating in hopes of producing a bipartisan bill this spring, according to sources on Capitol Hill. Cruz told ESPN earlier this year that it was “absolutely critical” that new legislation include language that would prevent college athletes from being deemed employees of their school. Several Democrats believe employment and collective bargaining is the best route to finding a sustainable future for college sports. Sources said the employment debate remains as one of the largest obstacles to reaching a compromise.
“This Executive Order identifies some of the key issues facing college sports, including continued funding for women’s and Olympic sports,” Cantwell said. “Congress should continue to have bipartisan discussions about how to increase revenue to meet these goals. I’m glad to know the President wants Congress to pass something.”
The president’s executive order does not address employment or other major unresolved issues in college sports, such as a push from Cantwell to reshape how schools share the revenue from their television contracts.
ESPN’s Andrea Adelson contributed to this report.
Pope Leo XIV to carry cross for entire procession
ROME — ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV will personally carry the wooden cross through all 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope carries the cross to every station.
“I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week outside of the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. “I carry all of this suffering in my prayer.”
John Paul II carried the cross for the entire procession from his first Good Friday as pontiff in 1979 until his hip surgery in 1995, when he carried it just part of the way, according to AP reports at the time.
For the first two years of his papacy, Benedict XVI carried the cross for the first station inside the Colosseum, then followed other bearers in the procession that ends on a platform on the Palatine Hill.
Pope Francis never carried the cross, but participated in the procession until his health worsened. He died after a long illness last year on Easter Monday, which fell on April 21.
Pope John Paul II was just 58 when he became pope, and was known as a hiker and outdoorsman. His two successors were in their late 70s when they began their papacies, and Francis was missing part of a lung due to a pulmonary infection as a young man.
At 70, Leo is physically fit and an avid tennis player and swimmer. Before becoming pope, Leo would work out regularly at a gym near the Vatican, with a plan befitting a man in his early 50s, according to his former trainer.
Crowds are expected to gather outside of the Colosseum for the Way of the Cross, which commemorates the final hours of Jesus’ life, from his death sentence to taking up the cross to his crucifixion, death and burial. The procession ends outside the Colosseum atop the Palatine Hill.
The meditations, which are read aloud at each station, were composed by the Rev. Francesco Patton, who was custos (or custodian) of the Holy Land 2016-25, charged, among other things, with looking after sacred sites
“The Way of the Cross is not intended for those who lead a pristinely pious or abstractly recollected life,” Patton wrote in his introduction. “Instead, it is the exercise of one who knows that faith, hope and charity must be incarnated in the real world.”
On Holy Saturday, the pontiff will preside over Easter vigil rites at St. Peter’s Square and lead Roman Catholics into Christianity’s most joyous celebration marking Christ’s resurrection.
On Easter Sunday, the pope will celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square before delivering his Easter message and offer the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” blessing to the city (of Rome) and the world.
Historic downtown Albuquerque building home to Lindy's Diner goes back up for sale
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – An iconic building housing one of Albuquerque’s longest-running restaurants is once again up for sale. The well-known diner has been around since the 1920s, but owners say they’re ready for retirement. “We’ve had a hell of a ride, we’ve had a hell of a ride at Lindy’s,” said Dawn Vatoseow, Co-owner of Lindy’s Diner. In the heart of downtown Albuquerque, […]
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These AI Whiz Kids Dropped Out of College and Got Investors to Pay Their Bills
Venture capitalists are stepping in to cover expenses like rent while dropouts from Harvard to Stanford chase their startup dreams.
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UConn vs. Illinois prediction, odds, spread, date: 2026 NCAA Tournament Final Four picks from proven model
A spot in the March Madness national championship game is on the line when the No. 2 seed UConn Huskies take on the No. 3 seed Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday, April 4, in a bit of a surprising 2026 Final Four matchup in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies, who are going for their third title in four seasons, stunned favored Duke with a late steal and long-distance 3-pointer from Braylon Mullins in the Elite Eight. Illinois, meanwhile, makes its first Final Four appearance since 2005 after the Illini upset Houston in the Sweet 16 and then beat Iowa in the Elite Eight. UConn beat Illinois 74-61 when these teams met this season at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28.
Tipoff from Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis is set for 6:09 p.m. ET. The Illini are 1.5-point favorites in the latest Illinois vs. UConn odds, while the over/under is 139.5. Before making any UConn vs. Illinois picks, check out the Connecticut vs. Illinois predictions from the SportsLine Projection Model.
The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every college basketball game 10,000 times. It entered the 2026 Elite Eight on a sizzling 11-1 run on its top-rated over/under college basketball picks dating back to last season, and is on a 28-22 run on top-rated CBB side picks.
Now, the model has simulated Illinois vs. UConn 10,000 times and just revealed its college basketball picks and predictions. You can head to SportsLine now to see the model’s picks. Here are several college basketball odds and college basketball lines for UConn vs. Illinois:
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UConn vs. Illinois spread: |
Illinois -1.5 |
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UConn vs. Illinois over/under: |
139.5 points |
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UConn vs. Illinois money line: |
Illinois -131, UConn +109 |
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UConn vs. Illinois picks: |
See picks at SportsLine |
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UConn vs. Illinois TV: |
TBS |
Top UConn vs. Illinois predictions
After 10,000 simulations of Illinois vs. UConn, SportsLine’s model is going Over on the total (139.5 points). The Huskies are coming off a clear-cut Over against Duke as those teams combined for 145 points in a game where the over/under was 134.5. Illinois, meanwhile, had six of its final nine games hit the Over heading into the NCAA Tournament.
The model is projecting that both teams clear 70 points in this matchup as Keaton Wagler leads the way with 16.7 points for Illinois. Tarris Reed Jr., Alex Karaban and Solo Ball, meanwhile, all score around 15 points for UConn in the simulations. The teams combine for 151 points as the Over hits in 77% of computer simulations. You can get the spread pick at SportsLine.
How to make Illinois vs. UConn picks
Now, the model simulated every possession of Illinois vs. UConn 10,000 times and says one side of the spread hits in well over 50% of simulations. You can only see that pick at SportsLine.
So who wins Illinois vs. UConn, and which side of the spread hits well over 50% of the time? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the spread to back, all from the advanced model that just simulated this game 10,000 times, and find out.
Trump said Iran was ‘decimated.’ Then an American F-15E fighter jet was shot down.
WASHINGTON — Less than 48 hours after President Donald Trump told Americans the U.S. military had “beaten and completely decimated Iran,” Tehran shot down an F-15E fighter jet, setting off a high-risk scramble by U.S. forces to rescue two service members from deep inside Iranian territory. Iran also struck two Blackhawk helicopters and an attack jet that were assisting in the search and rescue effort.
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The harrowing incidents have put in stark relief a growing challenge facing the president as the war enters its second month: Despite a daily bombing campaign and his triumphant wartime narrative, Iran retains enough military capabilities to inflict considerable damage to U.S. service members and America’s allies and assets in the Middle East.
“They have no anti-aircraft equipment,” Trump said of Iran in his address this week. “Their radar is 100% annihilated. We are unstoppable as a military force.”
Roughly half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers are still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in its arsenal, according to a U.S. official and a person briefed on the matter. Multiple missile stockpiles buried underground in Iran also remain undamaged, the sources said. And, they said, Iran still can launch missiles at ships transiting waterways across the region.
“Even at the rates at which they’re firing things now, they’re going to be able to sustain it for awhile,” Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the foreign affairs think tank Stimson Center, said of the Iranians. She said Iran also is getting better at hiding the weaponry it has.
Iran’s attack on the F-15E on Friday was the first time in decades that a U.S. fighter jet had been downed by enemy fire. One of the service members was rescued, while the U.S. military searched for the other. There were minor injuries to U.S. forces on the Blackhawk helicopter, and the pilot of the attack aircraft, an A-10 Thunderbolt, safely ejected over Kuwaiti airspace, according to a U.S. official.
But the developments marked a potential turning point in the war for Americans, as the White House’s account of how the war is going — emphasizing the U.S. military successes and downplaying the threat Iran still poses — is in conflict with its grim realities. A senior White House official said Trump gathered his national security team at the White House on Friday evening to monitor the ongoing events.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this week, the White House had assured Americans that Iran no longer controlled the airspace over its country. “U.S. and Israeli joint forces control the skies and have asserted air dominance over Iran,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday.
Yet since Trump’s prime-time address to the nation on Wednesday — where he extolled the “swift, decisive, overwhelming victories on the battlefield” — Iran has launched at least 50 ballistic missiles and more than 150 drones targeting the U.S. and its allies across the Middle East, according to a tally compiled by NBC News.
At least 16 U.S. Reaper drones have been downed since the start of the war, including two this week, the U.S. official said.
Trump has also argued the Iranian regime has been killed off and a more sympathetic one that’s holding diplomatic talks with his administration to end the war is in power. The president has sent mixed signals about how and when the conflict may end, while gas prices continue to rise because of Tehran’s ability to choke off the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz with its drone and other low-cost weapons. Trump told NBC News on Friday that talks with Iran would not be affected by the downing of the F-15E.
Iran, though, says there are no direct talks. And the U.S. has no indication that Iran’s authoritarian government has lost its grip on power or that successors to assassinated leaders have made a break with the Islamic Republic’s hard-line anti-Israel, anti-U.S. stance, according to multiple Western officials, U.S. intelligence assessments and regional analysts. The Iranians who have replaced senior leaders are known as equally hard-line or arguably even more militant than their predecessors, the sources say.
It has been difficult to independently quantify the status of the war, including the level of U.S. military success, in part because there is little public information made available by the Trump administration. The U.S. has released generalized data and videos about targets or missiles launched, and no independent news media is embedded with American forces as has been the case in past conflicts.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said the U.S. has superiority of the airspace over parts of western and southern Iran, but not yet to the east. Grieco, the fellow at the Stimson Center, said the U.S. does not have superiority in the east, and Iran has seized on its ability to inflict harm on the U.S. and prolong the conflict through asymmetric warfare, including with drones, hidden missile launchers, sea mines and small attack boats used in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Iranians “still have capability and capacity, and the real question for me is, what’s the potential for what they can do with that capability and capacity that they do have?” she said. “What we’re seeing is asymmetric warfare playing out in the air and maritime space.”
Iranian media on Friday published photos alongside claims from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps that it had shot down the F-15E. Iran’s parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf later trolled Trump in a post on X.
“After defeating Iran 37 times in a row, this brilliant no-strategy war they started has now been downgraded from ‘regime change’ to ‘Hey! Can anyone find our pilots? Please?’ Wow. What incredible progress. Absolute geniuses.” One service member remains missing.
Trump is finding the U.S. is increasingly isolated, as allies stand by and refuse to engage in a war they were not consulted about joining before it was underway.
Trump ramped up his attacks on European allies this week, deriding NATO members’ refusal to show “courage” and lead in clearing the Straight of Hormuz. He’s also angry that the United Kingdom, France and Spain have not allowed the U.S. unfettered access to their airspace and military bases for attacks on Iran. NATO’s secretary-general was heading to the White House next week.
Trump order intended to stabilize college sports, threatens lost federal funding
President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports.The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don’t comply is real, even if the stricter rules that come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out.In the order signed hours before the women’s Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding — a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer.In some ways, forcing those changes might seem like child’s play once college sports figures this out. The NCAA, the newly created College Sports Commission, the four power conferences, dozens more smaller ones and hundreds of educational institutions all have a say here: It’s a big reason Congress, which Trump instructed to act quickly, has been stuck for more than a year on this.“I’m glad to know the President wants Congress to pass something,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a key member of the Senate committee looking into changes, who mentioned ongoing bipartisan negotiations.Trump’s order was his second since last July and it included a laundry list of proposed fixes, many of which lawmakers and college leaders have been pushing for since the approval of a $2.8 billion settlement changed the face of games that were once played by pure amateurs.He called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window,” and wants to limit athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.“I’m extremely supportive of the President’s order,” said Cody Campbell, the Texas Tech regent and billionaire who is helping shape policy. “I’m very excited that we’re making progress and look forward to continued work in the (Congress) to permanently preserve a system that’s done so much for America.”At a college sports roundtable he hosted last month, Trump said he anticipated any order he signed would trigger litigation. Athletes have largely won the freedom to transfer almost at will via the portal along with the ability to be paid by schools that are now doling out more than $20 million a year to their athletes.Some have also been suing the NCAA about eligibility limits, and their right to do that has been a major sticking point in the Congressional deliberations.As much as the changes he directs, Trump’s call for the Education Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general’s office to evaluate “whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for Federal grants and contracts” stands out as a way to force change.Several universities across the country have made policy changes to comply with federal orders and avoid funding-related showdowns with the government. Yet big-named schools like Penn State and Florida State are facing huge debts.“I haven’t read it, obviously, but I certainly appreciate his interest in the issue,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said at the women’s Final Four in Phoenix. “And from what I saw, some of the social media traffic, it’s pretty clear that he made clear that we need Congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things, which is good, because we do.”Commissioners at the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conference released statements thanking Trump for weighing in, with the ACC’s Jim Phillips saying “there continues to be significant momentum to preserve the athletic and academic opportunities for the next generation of student-athletes and we appreciate the ongoing efforts.”Attorney Mit Winter, who follows college sports law, said the order is likely to set up a situation where the NCAA and schools have to decide whether to follow a federal court order or an executive order.“Either way, we’re likely going to see litigation challenging the EO by athletes and third parties,” Winter said.University of Nebraska president Jeffrey Gold said he didn’t want to try to predict what the courts would do.“But it is critical to what we must do to keep college athletics in line with what we do,” Gold said. “The roundtable a few weeks ago showed there is a profound sense of urgency around this.”___AP Sports Writers Maura Carey, David Brandt and Eric Olson contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports.
The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don’t comply is real, even if the stricter rules that come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out.
In the order signed hours before the women’s Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiraling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.
He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding — a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer.
In some ways, forcing those changes might seem like child’s play once college sports figures this out. The NCAA, the newly created College Sports Commission, the four power conferences, dozens more smaller ones and hundreds of educational institutions all have a say here: It’s a big reason Congress, which Trump instructed to act quickly, has been stuck for more than a year on this.
“I’m glad to know the President wants Congress to pass something,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a key member of the Senate committee looking into changes, who mentioned ongoing bipartisan negotiations.
Trump’s order was his second since last July and it included a laundry list of proposed fixes, many of which lawmakers and college leaders have been pushing for since the approval of a $2.8 billion settlement changed the face of games that were once played by pure amateurs.
He called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window,” and wants to limit athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.
“I’m extremely supportive of the President’s order,” said Cody Campbell, the Texas Tech regent and billionaire who is helping shape policy. “I’m very excited that we’re making progress and look forward to continued work in the (Congress) to permanently preserve a system that’s done so much for America.”
At a college sports roundtable he hosted last month, Trump said he anticipated any order he signed would trigger litigation. Athletes have largely won the freedom to transfer almost at will via the portal along with the ability to be paid by schools that are now doling out more than $20 million a year to their athletes.
Some have also been suing the NCAA about eligibility limits, and their right to do that has been a major sticking point in the Congressional deliberations.
As much as the changes he directs, Trump’s call for the Education Department, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general’s office to evaluate “whether violations of such rules render a university unfit for Federal grants and contracts” stands out as a way to force change.
Several universities across the country have made policy changes to comply with federal orders and avoid funding-related showdowns with the government. Yet big-named schools like Penn State and Florida State are facing huge debts.
“I haven’t read it, obviously, but I certainly appreciate his interest in the issue,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said at the women’s Final Four in Phoenix. “And from what I saw, some of the social media traffic, it’s pretty clear that he made clear that we need Congressional action to sort of seal the deal on a number of these things, which is good, because we do.”
Commissioners at the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conference released statements thanking Trump for weighing in, with the ACC’s Jim Phillips saying “there continues to be significant momentum to preserve the athletic and academic opportunities for the next generation of student-athletes and we appreciate the ongoing efforts.”
Attorney Mit Winter, who follows college sports law, said the order is likely to set up a situation where the NCAA and schools have to decide whether to follow a federal court order or an executive order.
“Either way, we’re likely going to see litigation challenging the EO by athletes and third parties,” Winter said.
University of Nebraska president Jeffrey Gold said he didn’t want to try to predict what the courts would do.
“But it is critical to what we must do to keep college athletics in line with what we do,” Gold said. “The roundtable a few weeks ago showed there is a profound sense of urgency around this.”
___
AP Sports Writers Maura Carey, David Brandt and Eric Olson contributed to this report.
Apple Just Showed Me 50 Years of History That Nobody Has Ever Seen
I looked at prototypes and rare materials that even Tim Cook hadn’t known about. They tell the story of America’s most iconic company.
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Women’s Final Four 2026: How UConn star Sarah Strong found her voice
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Alexa Philippou
Multiple Authors
PHOENIX — TWO DAYS before the Final Four, Sarah Strong was so nervous that she couldn’t eat.
But the UConn Huskies‘ superstar wasn’t anxious about her team’s upcoming national semifinal matchup against South Carolina or that the Huskies are two wins from an undefeated season and clinching back-to-back NCAA championships.
It had nothing to do with basketball. Strong dreads public speaking.
Strong was about to be awarded the Naismith Trophy for national player of the year. The ceremony honoring her and other award finalists was imminent. She would have to go on stage to receive her trophy and give a few remarks in front of a crowd.
In other words: a concoction of things that Strong — known for her reserved public nature, succinct news conference answers and disinterest in the spotlight — would prefer to bypass.
“It’s the weirdest thing,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said last month. “Theoretically, those two things don’t go together: ‘I want to be the best player in the country,’ but then when people say, ‘Oh, there’s Sarah Strong, she’s the best player in the country'” — Auriemma physically recoils as he imitates Strong — “she hides from it.”
If they ever existed, the days of Strong hiding in the wings are gone. Her talent made that impossible. Last April, Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley deemed her capable of being the best to come out of UConn — and she has done nothing to dissuade that notion. Leading the No. 1 Huskies in points, rebounds, steals and blocks, Strong has swept the national player of the year awards to date.
None of that matters to Strong — she might be the only person to describe winning the Naismith as a “cool side quest.” But her maturation on and off the court into the star the Huskies need her to be could be the key to the revival of a dynasty, if all goes to plan this weekend for UConn in Phoenix.
“She’s a kid that sort of wants to fit in,” said North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart, who recruited Strong while she attended high school in Durham in hopes of keeping her in-state. “I think now she realizes her version of fitting in is just being better than everybody else.
“I think she just is starting to understand the strength that is Sarah Strong.”
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Carolyn Peck joins “Get Up” to discuss the keys to UConn’s Final Four matchup against South Carolina.
AZZI FUDD WASN’T sure what to think about Strong when they roomed together during the Huskies’ trip to the Bahamas around Thanksgiving 2024. Despite being roommates for a week, Fudd estimates most of their conversations lasted about 30 seconds.
Other teammates have similar stories about their first encounters with Strong. For Allie Ziebell, a fellow sophomore who took her official visit to Storrs with Strong, the combination of their quiet personalities made for a tough pairing. “Honestly, I feel like every Sarah interaction I had before was so awkward,” Ziebell said, laughing.
Redshirt sophomore Jana El Alfy, meanwhile, crossed paths with Strong at a FIBA event in Hungary before they became Huskies and thought, “Either she hates me or she is just shy.”
Once on campus, Strong came out of her shell off the court. The Huskies describe her as a goofball, someone who can easily pick up new skills and excels — almost annoyingly — at everything she tries. Ziebell describes her as the first friend to check on someone when they’re having a bad day.
On the court, Strong’s versatility, IQ and smoothness were apparent right away.
“[If] you’re building a player, how could you build something any different, any better?” Auriemma said recently. But playing alongside star upperclassmen Fudd and Paige Bueckers, last year’s No. 1 WNBA draft pick, meant Strong tended to yield to others.
“Usually, as a freshman, you come in, you want to gain everybody’s respect,” Bueckers told ESPN. “You don’t want to step on toes … I wanted her to think that it was her team, to where she felt confident enough to take over a game and didn’t have to be, like, defer to Paige, defer to Azzi.”
That shift occurred last March. Strong had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the Elite Eight and 24 points and 15 rebounds in the national title game. She left Tampa, Florida, with a worthy case for Final Four most outstanding player — and with onlookers wondering how she could top her freshman season.
WITH BUECKERS OFF to the WNBA and the program readying for Fudd’s departure, a more aggressive sophomore season for Strong was a mandate. She needed to become more confident and assertive, more comfortable not just leading by example but also in using her voice.
And she needed to be OK with taking over games when the Huskies needed it — even if that felt counter to her nature as, in Banghart’s words, a person “about as egoless as there is on the planet.”
“Her biggest flaw is her unselfishness,” Bueckers said, “and I think that’s also her superpower too.”
“I think, too, [it’s about] helping reframe what being selfish is,” added Allison Feaster, Strong’s mother and a former Harvard star who for two seasons led the nation in scoring in the 1990s. “If your team needs your score, if your team needs the ball to get in your hands, the team needs you to put pressure on the other team’s defense in whatever form that may be, then doing the opposite, to me, is being selfish.”
Game by game, Strong has come into her own — and proved herself as the most dominant player in the game. Her 31 career games of scoring at least 20 points are tied with Breanna Stewart for the most by a UConn player through their first two seasons with the program over the past 25 seasons. With 26 more points, she can break Maya Moore’s UConn record for most points through a player’s first two NCAA tournaments; with 33 points, she can break Chamique Holdsclaw’s record (for any player).
“She’s much more comfortable being herself, just authentically her,” UConn junior Ashlynn Shade said. “I think that’s translated to her on the court, too, because she’s just so powerful, so strong, confident, that she’s just unstoppable.”
And when UConn has needed her most in March, Strong has delivered.
In the Sweet 16, the Huskies trailed after the first quarter for only the second time this season, their offense out of sorts against North Carolina’s stingy defense. Strong rattled off three straight baskets in the second quarter and scored 11 points in the period to swing the lead and momentum in UConn’s favor.
The Huskies were ahead 28-20 at halftime, and Strong spoke up in the locker room before Auriemma came in, telling her teammates that if they played their game, the Tar Heels couldn’t stop it. After the victory, she described that moment as perhaps the first time this season she felt comfortable speaking up in such a setting.
“I’m not going to be the one to talk and say the most things, but if I say something here and there, and it’s pretty impactful when I do,” Strong said. “I know that team looks up to me and Azzi, so we try to do a good job of leading.”
Two days later, the Huskies were in a dogfight against Notre Dame. They had trouble getting Strong touches early on. After playing 38 minutes in the previous game, her tired legs, she admitted after the game, made her more stagnant than usual.
But she recognized her team needed her to show up. And in the second half, she willed herself to 15 of UConn’s 38 points. She found her mom in the stands after securing the win, leaning over the courtside stats table in exhaustion. “You dug in, baby,” Feaster told her, as Strong wiped her brow and let out a “phew.”
“She knows that when it’s time to win games, that she has a huge responsibility,” Auriemma said. “Some players shy away from it, and she likes it “
Feaster and Auriemma don’t think she feels pressure. She just sees it, they say, as doing whatever she needs to do to win.
“I honestly don’t think it registers in her mind, the things that she’s doing individually,” Feaster said. “I don’t know how she even reflected on being a national champion in her first season. It’s not something that drives her, the individual aspect.”
Her looseness, her calmness, in turn, have become the team’s personality this season, helping the Huskies shoulder the burden of an undefeated record with a relative ease that has surprised even Auriemma.
“There is a level of confidence that Sarah has that I think she lifts them up to someplace where they wouldn’t be able to be by themselves or with maybe somebody different,” Auriemma said. “So, they play with confidence knowing they have her, and that’s probably the best compliment that I can give her.”
1:26
UConn downs Notre Dame to advance to the Final Four
UConn is heading to Phoenix for the Final Four after taking down Notre Dame.
STRONG’S TEAMMATES TAKE their phones out of their pockets and have them on standby. The official from the Naismith ceremony is about to announce the player of the year. And Strong is ready.
The Huskies stand and erupt in cheers as Strong’s name is called, and she takes the stage. They start chanting, “speech! speech! speech!”
Strong approaches the podium and stands up straight, unwavering. She had spent the past day preparing some remarks with UConn’s sports information director. Strong speaks for 45 seconds — “I don’t say a lot, but I genuinely do love you guys,” she says to her teammates as she closes — before returning to her seat with a smile.
That’s not the last of the demands for Strong. Naismith officials ask her to do a media circuit, speaking with local reporters, CBS and even an interview with ESPN’s Scott Van Pelt. There’s more the next day. She’s named the Associated Press player of the year as well as the winner of the Wade Trophy for player of the year — meaning more ceremonies, more standing ovations, more media and more acceptance speeches.
At the festivities for the Wade — less than 24 hours before the Final Four game against South Carolina — she’s asked if she wants to make any remarks.
“No,” she says, “I’ve said enough.”
She’s saving the rest for the court.