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

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 share of those and I don’t think you go into the season thinking that this freshman is going to come and be ready. Every once in a while you get unique guys that come along and from what I heard on the men’s side, Liam is that kind of player and Sarah is that kind of player that comes along every once in a while.”

McNeeley and Strong don’t just thrive against overmatched opponents. Strong had 14 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and five blocked shots in a win over then-No. 14 North Carolina. McNeeley had 20 points in a loss to Colorado at the Maui Invitational. UConn played at home against No. 15 Baylor on Wednesday without its only returning starter. With Alex Karaban sidelined after suffering a concussion late in UConn’s final game at the Maui Invitational, McNeeley had 10 of his 17 points in the second half in a four-point victory.

Games like that are why McNeeley came to UConn. He is ready to handle the pressure of trying to help the program win a third consecutive national title.

“I decided to come here because I knew I was going to get pushed harder than anybody else by the coaches and the team,” said McNeeley, who is second on the 25th-ranked Huskies with an average of 13 points per game. “That is where I feel like I play my best.”

Strong leads UConn in rebounding and also tops the second-ranked Huskies with 19 steals and 11 blocked shots. Only All-American guard Paige Bueckers averages more points for UConn than the 15.6 Strong is contributing for the 7-0 team. Getting the chance to play for Auriemma, who recently became the winningest Division I college basketball coach of all time, was a key factor in Strong committing to UConn.

“He knows the game really well and he wants the best of all of us,” Strong said. “I know it is going to set me up to get better and get developed so I can go to the WNBA.”

There was a moment in one of UConn’s early games when Strong came out of the game. Auriemma was waiting for her to get to the UConn bench. As he stopped her and began to calmly instruct his star freshman on what he was looking for, Strong looked right at her head coach and tried to absorb each word coming her way. Many of those who came to UConn before Strong would quickly retreat to the bench and let one of the assistants deliver the message. Strong chose a more mature option.

“It is really important,” Strong said. “I do care about what he has to say and he is going to put me in the best position that he can so whatever he says, I am going to take it in.”

Both freshmen will join their teammates in high-profile games this weekend.

The UConn women head to New York to face No. 22 Louisville at the Barclays Center in the Women’s Champions Classic on Saturday night. The men’s team will play its first true road game of the season on Sunday against unranked Texas. McNeeley and his teammates will try to build on the Baylor victory with a matchup against No. 7 Gonzaga at Madison Garden looming on Dec. 14.

“We have to build on it,” McNeeley said. “We have two really big games coming up and league play after that so we just have to keep the momentum.”