It’s the second gold medal that Strong’s won this summer and her fourth overall.
UConn freshman Sarah Strong added another gold medal to her collection, helping Team USA win the FIBA 3×3 U18 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary. She earned MVP honors at the tournament after averaging 6.9 points per game (shots inside the arc only count for one point, shots behind the arc count for two) during the Americans’ perfect 7-0 run.
This is Strong’s second gold medal of the summer after also winning the 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup earlier this summer with Team USA’s 5×5 U18 squad. She also brought home gold from the 2022 and 2023 3×3 U18 World Cups.
Despite the spotless record, the US didn’t have it easy. Arianna Roberson went down with an injury in the final pool game and missed the remainder of the tournament, forcing the team to play without a sub for the quarterfinals, semifinals and title game.
Team USA cruised past Spain and China in blowout fashion but faced a tougher test in the final vs. Japan. The game came down to the wire with the two sides tied at 19 (where the first to 21 wins) before Jasmine Davidson hit a gold medal-winning 2-pointer to seal the victory for the US.
Strong, the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2024, will now return to Storrs for the fall semester, which began last week.