Freshmen Liam McNeeley and Sarah Strong thriving under the pressure of playing for UConn

[ad_1]

Liam McNeeley

STORRS, Conn. — A quick look around at the banners and the retired numbers at Gampel Pavilion is a reminder of the special players who came to UConn before Liam McNeeley and Sarah Strong.

However, it might be hard to find a season when a pair of freshmen arrived at UConn being asked to shoulder the burden for the Huskies like the two current freshman stars.

Before Strong played her first collegiate game, Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma suggested that the 6-foot-2 freshman could change the trajectory of the UConn program. This came from the person who coached Rebecca Lobo, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.

The UConn men’s basketball team lost four starters off a team that won a second consecutive national title. Coach Dan Hurley made it clear that McNeeley was not going to be a player who will have a couple of months to figure things out.

In his first game, he had two points, a rebound and an assist in the first four minutes of the season-opening win over Sacred Heart. McNeeley finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the game. The next night, Strong had 17 points and six steals as the 11-time national champion UConn women’s basketball team opened the season by rolling past Boston University.

McNeeley is an outgoing 6-foot-7 Texan who was one of the most vocal players during timeouts at times as the Huskies were losing three games in three days at the Maui Invitational. The soft-spoken 6-foot-2 Strong began playing basketball when her family lived in Spain before moving to North Carolina. She is more like a typical freshman in her dealings with the media as she chooses her words very carefully. Despite their differences. both play a loud game and welcome the pressure of playing for elite college programs.

“I think they prove in high school that they are made for big moments, that they show their best stuff when people most expect it from them,” Auriemma said. “That is why they come to school (at UConn). We have certainly had our…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/freshmen-liam-mcneeley-sarah-strong-174935077.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-12-06 17:49:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.