With Geno Auriemma and Sarah Strong back at UConn, are the Huskies 2027 contenders?

With Sarah Strong and Geno Auriemma back on the sideline, can UConn win a title next season? M. Anthony Nesmith / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Share full articlePHOENIX — Putting an end to any retirement rumors, UConn coach Geno Auriemma confirmed to The Athletic that he plans to return next season. 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 on Friday night, with a 62-48 loss to South Carolina. 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. For the last six years, UConn has been led by Paige Bueckers or Azzi Fudd. They were Auriemma’s next elite guards, following players like Sue Bird, Maya Moore and Diana Taurasi. Despite injuries, they took the Huskies to a national championship and appeared in five Final Fours. 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. Having a player like Strong, who will be a junior next season, is a position nearly every team in the country would love to be in. “It’s going to be an honor, a privilege to see her continue to grow into the player she can be,” Fudd said. “I mean, this is only the start for her.” 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’s alpha leader on the court. Auriemma said he has no intention of coddling Strong this offseason, in hopes that she can come back stronger next year. “I 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’t mean anything?” Auriemma said. “I 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 … for the next 12 months until we got back there. You can’t shy away from it. It is what it is and she’s tough enough to handle it.” UConn will return with national championship aspirations once again next season. Led by Strong, the Huskies will have one of the nation’s top-five rosters with Big East freshman of the year Blanca Quinonez and starting point guard KK Arnold. But what comes next for UConn is firmly on Strong’s shoulders, much like it was for Taurasi in 2003. “An awful lot falls on her,” Auriemma said. “She’ll be the first to tell you that she is not proud of how her game went (in the Final Four). … I don’t think Sarah Strong needs me to put any fire or motivation or anything into her. We’ll be back here next year. She’ll make sure of that.” Beyond Strong, though, what does UConn’s roster look like? Who is leaving and who is coming back? 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. He’s weathered criticism before for his contentious relationship with rival coaches, and he’s facing plenty of ire now for his postgame heated exchange with South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. UConn has missed the Final Four just once in the last 18 years. As of Saturday afternoon, no UConn player has announced plans to enter the transfer portal when it opens on Monday. That leaves just the seniors and graduate students as players who are out of eligibility. Those include forward Serah Williams, redshirt senior guard Caroline Ducharme and Fudd, an All-America guard. The Huskies played eight players for at least eight minutes on Friday, and all but two are set to return and take another run at a championship. Auriemma will also add a five-star center, the No. 3 player in the 2026 class, according to ESPN. Olivia Vuskosa, at 6-foot-4 and from New York, will be joining. 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). 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 Quinonez, but the loss to South Carolina showed that they need to find a third, high-level scorer. Expect UConn to be heavily involved with bringing in pieces to replace not just Fudd, but also Williams. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Cameron Teague is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Ohio State Buckeyes. Before joining The Athletic, he worked as a features writer for The Columbus Dispatch and a beat writer covering Louisville football for the Courier Journal. He’s a graduate of Bowling Green State University. Follow Cameron on Twitter @cj_teague