{"id":854236,"date":"2026-04-05T00:22:36","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:22:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854236\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T00:22:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T00:22:36","slug":"with-geno-auriemma-and-sarah-strong-back-at-uconn-are-the-huskies-2027-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/854236\/","title":{"rendered":"With Geno Auriemma and Sarah Strong back at UConn, are the Huskies 2027 contenders?"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOENIX \u2014 Putting an end to any retirement rumors, UConn coach Geno Auriemma confirmed to The Athletic he plans to return next season.<\/p>\n

It will be the 43rd year coaching for Auriemma, 72, and give him another chance to win his 13th national championship after his 2025-26 undefeated season came to an abrupt ending Friday night, with a 62-48 loss to South Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Though Auriemma plans to remain at the helm, a different major change will happen at UConn with a changing of the guard on his roster.<\/p>\n

For the last six years, UConn has been led by Paige Bueckers or Azzi Fudd. They were Auriemma\u2019s next elite guards, following players such as Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi. Despite injuries, they took the Huskies to a national championship and appeared in five Final Fours.<\/p>\n

Bueckers graduated after last season, and now, Fudd will be joining her in the WNBA. Sarah Strong, the national player of the year, is left to carry the torch.<\/p>\n

Having Strong, who will be a junior next season, is a position nearly every team in the country would love to be in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to be an honor, a privilege to see her continue to grow into the player she can be,\u201d Fudd said. \u201cI mean, this is only the start for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strong was arguably the best UConn player on the court the past two seasons, but she always had somebody to lean on. Now, much like Taurasi entering her junior season, Strong must embrace being UConn\u2019s alpha leader on the court.<\/p>\n

Auriemma said he has no intention of coddling Strong this offseason, in hopes that she can come back stronger next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she should take it on her shoulders. I mean, this is what this is all about. You know, what are you gonna do? You know, go home and pretend it doesn\u2019t mean anything?\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cI think the best players carry it with them. They put it on their own shoulders. I remember when we lost in 2001 in St. Louis. (Bird and Taurasi) and those guys, they went home. Not one kid said one word about it, but they carried that \u2026 for the next 12 months until we got back there. You can\u2019t shy away from it. It is what it is and she\u2019s tough enough to handle it.\u201d<\/p>\n

UConn will return with national championship aspirations once again next season. Led by Strong, the Huskies will have one of the nation\u2019s top-five rosters with Big East freshman of the year Blanca Qui\u00f1onez and starting point guard KK Arnold.<\/p>\n

But what comes next for UConn is firmly on Strong\u2019s shoulders, much like it was for Taurasi in 2003.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn awful lot falls on her,\u201d Auriemma said. \u201cShe\u2019ll be the first to tell you that she is not proud of how her game went (in the Final Four). \u2026 I don\u2019t think Sarah Strong needs me to put any fire or motivation or anything into her. We\u2019ll be back here next year. She\u2019ll make sure of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond Strong, though, what does UConn\u2019s roster look like? Who is leaving and who is coming back?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a breakdown:<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the future hold for Auriemma?<\/p>\n

The winningest coach in NCAA history just turned 72 near the end of March, but with him back on the sideline next season, the Huskies will remain national championship contenders.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s weathered criticism before for his contentious relationship with rival coaches, and he\u2019s facing plenty of ire now for his postgame heated exchange<\/a> with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.<\/p>\n

UConn has missed the Final Four just once in the last 18 tournaments.<\/p>\n

How much roster turnover will there be?<\/p>\n

As of Saturday afternoon, no UConn player has announced plans to enter the transfer portal when it opens Monday.<\/p>\n

That leaves just the seniors and graduate students as players who are out of eligibility: forward Serah Williams, redshirt senior guard Caroline Ducharme and Fudd, an All-American guard.<\/p>\n

The Huskies played eight players for at least eight minutes Friday, and all but two are set to return and take another run at a championship.<\/p>\n

Auriemma will also add a five-star center, the No. 3 player in the 2026 class, according to ESPN. Olivia Vuskosa, at 6-feet-4 and from New York, will be joining.<\/p>\n

Biggest offseason need<\/p>\n

On Thursday, Auriemma opined on the transfer portal impacting college recruiting out of high school (and about how that and revenue sharing will be the death of quality mid-major programs).<\/p>\n

Well, Auriemma needs to get into the portal this offseason and find an elite scorer. With Fudd gone to the WNBA, the Huskies will rely heavily on Strong and Qui\u00f1onez, but the loss to South Carolina showed that they need to find a third, high-level scorer.<\/p>\n

Expect UConn to be heavily involved with bringing in pieces to replace not just Fudd, but also Williams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 Putting an end to any retirement rumors, UConn coach Geno Auriemma confirmed to The Athletic he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[4706,7,49,48,5481],"class_list":{"0":"post-854236","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-connecticut-huskies","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-womens-college-basketball"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116349249511423927","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}