Last week, Sarah Strong, a 6-foot-2 forward who is the top-ranked women’s basketball recruit in the class of 2024, narrowed her list of schools to UConn, North Carolina and Duke.
A few days later, the Blue Devils made the quite the pitch to the native North Carolinian. In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, No. 7-seed Duke engineered a 16-point comeback on No. 2-seed Ohio State, becoming the lowest-seeded team to advance to the Sweet 16. (It also didn’t hurt that cross-Triangle rival, No. 8-seed North Carolina, was crushed by No. 1-seed South Carolina.)
Even without Strong’s commitment, Duke claims next season’s fifth-best freshman class, headlined by dunking Canadian Toby Fournier. Next year, in short, was supposed to be when Duke returned to the top of women’s college basketball, when this year’s team of freshmen, sophomores and transfers would be supplemented by additional elite talents.
Yet, it appears the Blue Devils have arrived ahead of schedule. And now that they’re here, don’t expect them easily to depart. A Sweet 16 date with No. 3-seed UConn, and another opportunity to impress Strong, awaits on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).
On the other hand, maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising that Duke is here.
Anyone who has wandered through the…
