Rising up in Spain, Sarah Sturdy’s first introduction to the sport was from her mom, Allison Feaster. Feaster, a former standout at Harvard, was drafted by the Los Angeles Sparks in ’98 with the fifth general decide, went on to turn into an All-Star in ’04 and performed abroad in France, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Sturdy remembers going to her mother’s practices and watching her put in work on the hardwood, all whereas falling in love with the sport herself. “She would hustle so much,” Sturdy tells us over Zoom in Could. “That was in all probability her essential factor. Simply vitality on protection, hustle and [being] aggressive. She [was] a dawg.”
The sport has at all times been part of Sturdy’s life—she even suited up for a similar membership crew as mother—however it wasn’t till she moved to the US in fifth grade that she began taking her recreation to the following degree given the extent of competitors.
“The expertise degree and ability degree is so much completely different right here, so undoubtedly it’s somewhat more durable. I began getting outcomes out of it, so I used to be like, OK, let me lock in,” she says. Off the court docket, Sturdy additionally needed to cope with the transition that comes with transferring from a distinct nation, whether or not it was cultural changes—in Spain, she would watch numerous American films and was nervous about having to cope with bullies at school like what she noticed within the movies—or the language barrier. Sturdy, who speaks Spanish, initially struggled with studying comprehension in English.
She’s come a great distance since then. A five-star recruit and the No. 1 ranked participant within the ESPNW 100 for the category of 2024, Sturdy is an plain expertise with an all-around recreation—at 6-2, she makes use of her power and dimension to her benefit, whether or not it’s holding her personal on the submit, utilizing her silky easy handles to drive to the rim or counting on her acute court docket imaginative and prescient to dish out dimes to her teammates. The 2023-24 Gatorade North Carolina Ladies Basketball Participant of the 12 months averaged a double-double at Grace Christian College (NC) whereas additionally sustaining a 3.68 GPA.
Sturdy, who would watch highlights of Maya Moore—her favourite participant—and Breanna Stewart, had at all times dreamt of going to UConn. And but, when it got here time to make her ultimate resolution, the ultimate issue had nothing to do with location, she says, however moderately, what she felt inside. “It’s at all times been a dream faculty,” she says. “I simply sort of felt it in my coronary heart, and I talked to my household. I prayed about it.”
At UConn, Sturdy needs to raise her recreation and get “accustomed to the school tempo” and the extent of physicality—from getting in form to changing into extra environment friendly and a constant shooter. She’s set to affix a Huskies squad that simply misplaced standout Aaliyah Edwards to the 2024 WNBA Draft however will see the return of one of the crucial elite flooring generals in faculty hoops, Paige Bueckers. The pairing already has followers in Storrs excited for the longer term. Sturdy is able to carry that very same vitality.
“We’re simply attempting to win,” she says. “They haven’t gained a championship shortly, in order that’s the plan for the following 4 years. I’m simply very excited to play with everyone and be coached by the teaching workers.”
Portraits by Luke Schlaifer.
