Rising up in Spain, Sarah Robust’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 total decide, went on to turn into an All-Star in ’04 and performed abroad in France, Portugal, Italy and Spain. Robust 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 rather a lot,” Robust tells us over Zoom in Might. “That was in all probability her primary factor. Simply power on protection, hustle and [being] aggressive. She [was] a dawg.”
The sport has all the time been part of Robust’s life—she even suited up for a similar membership group as mother—however it wasn’t till she moved to the USA in fifth grade that she began taking her sport to the subsequent stage given the extent of competitors.
“The expertise stage and talent stage is rather a lot totally different right here, so undoubtedly it’s slightly tougher. I began getting outcomes out of it, so I used to be like, OK, let me lock in,” she says. Off the courtroom, Robust additionally needed to take care of the transition that comes with transferring from a unique nation, whether or not it was cultural changes—in Spain, she would watch a number of American films and was nervous about having to take care of bullies in class like what she noticed within the movies—or the language barrier. Robust, 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, Robust is an simple expertise with an all-around sport—at 6-2, she makes use of her energy 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 courtroom 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.
Robust, who would watch highlights of Maya Moore—her favourite participant—and Breanna Stewart, had all the time dreamt of going to UConn. And but, when it got here time to make her closing resolution, the ultimate issue had nothing to do with location, she says, however somewhat, what she felt inside. “It’s all the time been a dream college,” she says. “I simply sort of felt it in my coronary heart, and I talked to my household. I prayed about it.”
At UConn, Robust needs to raise her sport and get “accustomed to the faculty tempo” and the extent of physicality—from getting in form to changing into extra environment friendly and a constant shooter. She’s set to hitch 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 school hoops, Paige Bueckers. The pairing already has followers in Storrs excited for the longer term. Robust is able to carry that very same power.
“We’re simply attempting to win,” she says. “They haven’t received a championship shortly, in order that’s the plan for the subsequent 4 years. I’m simply very excited to play with everyone and be coached by the teaching employees.”
Portraits by Luke Schlaifer.