11/4/2026 1:00:00 PM | Women's Basketball
ATLANTA – 2026 Wade Trophy winner and UConn women's basketball junior Sarah Strong is one of 15 players named to the 2026-27 watch list for the 50th Wade Trophy, the Women's Basketball Coaches Association announced Wednesday.
First awarded in 1978, the Wade Trophy is the oldest and most prestigious national player of the year award in college women's basketball.
Strong is coming off an impressive sophomore season, when she was earned the Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, AP Player of the Year and USBWA Player of the Year in addition to the Wade Trophy. Strong averaged 18.4 points on a .582/.404/.833 shooting split, 7.7 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game last season.
A consensus All-American, Strong was the BIG EAST's 2025-26 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, as well as the BIG EAST Tournament Most Outstanding Player, All-BIG EAST First Team and All-Defensive Team. She led the team in points, rebounds, blocks and steals as a sophomore.
This preseason, Strong was named the BIG EAST's Preseason Player of the Year, a Preseason AP All-American, to the Naismith Trophy watch list and to the Katrina McClain Award watch list.
The Wade Watch list of candidates for the Wade Trophy is composed of players selected by the WBCA NCAA Division I Awards Committee. The committee will review the list midseason to determine if additional players will be added based on their play during the first half of the 2026-27 season. The winner of the award will be announced in April during the 2027 WBCA Convention in Columbus, Ohio — site of the 2027 NCAA Women's Final Four.
