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The "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" alum, 44, presented the Icon Award to the "Jack & Diane" singer, 74, whom she thanked for taking care of her throughout her yearslong battle with cancer.

She shared that of all his songs, the one she finds the most meaningful is his 2008 track "Longest Days," where he sings, "But nothing lasts forever / Your best efforts don't always pay / Sometimes when you get sick and you don't get better / That's when life is short, even in its longest days."

"It was a little over a year ago when I got sick — my life felt short even when the days in the hospital seemed to go on forever. Sometimes you get sick and you don't get better," she said on stage at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles. "He wasn't going to let that lyric define my life. He stepped up, took control, fought for me and pretty much changed my life, saved my life," she said on stage. "A man I get to call dad, and my best friend."

On the red carpet Thursday, Teddi confirmed toVarietythat she still has stage 4 melanoma but said her treatment is going well.

"I'm in the middle of immunotherapy and it's working so things are positive," she told the outlet. She said she hopes her vulnerability encourages more people to get screened.

Teddi reunited with fellow 'Housewives' star Tamra Judge

At the March 26 ceremony's red carpet, the reality TV personality also reunited with "Real Housewives of Orange County" starTamra Judge.

Teddi Mellencamp's ongoing treatment has not stopped her from making public appearances. On March 11, she attended the 2026 "An Unforgettable Evening" gala, fundraising for the Women's Cancer Research Fund, in Beverly Hills alongside friend and "RHOBH" costarKyle Richards.

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Richards said Teddi Mellencamp was "cancer-free" in December, saying, "That was just the best call you could ever hear in your life."

"She's giving me pep talks, too," Richards told USA TODAY. "So we're there for each other for sure."

Taylor Swift ditched her signature red lip and hit the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards for her first in-person awards show appearance of the year.

Scroll through to see more photos of her from the night.

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" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> From left: Rich Bressler, President, COO and CFO, iHeartMedia, Inc., John Sykes, President, Entertainment Enterprises, iHeartMedia, Inc., Taylor Swift, Bob Pittman, Chairman and CEO, iHeartMedia, Inc. and Ashley Tabor-King attend the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards at Dolby Theatre on March 26, 2026 in Hollywood, California.

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Taylor Swift, Travis Kelce steal spotlight at 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards

Taylor Swift ditched her signature red lip and hit the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards for her first in-person awards show appearance of the year.Scroll through to see more photos of her from the night.

How long has Teddi Mellencamp had cancer?

The former "RHOBH" star revealed she was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma in 2022, and by 2025, she confirmed the cancer hadmetastasized to her lungs and brain. In May, she told USA TODAY she was "feeling positive, but I also would say that my mood and my overall energy level shifts by the hour."

In October,Teddi Mellencamp said on Instagram that there was "no detectable cancer" in her body, but she would remain "on immunotherapy for another year" and is "not considered in remission or anything like that."

On aJan. 14 episodeof the "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast, John Mellencamp revealed that she continued to battle brain cancer, and he said, "It's not (expletive) fun," and "she's suffering right now."

Who are Teddi Mellencamp's husband and children

Teddi Mellencamp's husband isEdwin Arroyave, whom she married in 2011, and they share four kids, including Slate, Cruz, and Dove, as well as her stepdaughter Bella.

In 2024, she announced their divorce, but the pair have hit pause on the divorce amid cancer treatment.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Teddi Mellencamp tears up over John Mellencamp lyric amid cancer battle

Georgia Savageford, who introduced herself as Wynnie at a news conference, said she was inside an officer's vehicle when she saw federal agents shoot Pretti.

"That day has changed me forever," she said. "The trauma will haunt me for the rest of my life, and I will never be the same."

Savageford said she had been legally observing the actions of federal officers in Minneapolis ever since the shooting death ofRenee Goodby a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer on Jan. 7. She said she was doing so again on the morning of Jan. 24 when an agent pushed her twice and caused her to fall.

"As I was going down, three agents proceeded to tackle me and drag me face-down into the middle of the street. They knelt on my back, twisted my arms and my legs to the ground, and handcuffed me. The cuffs were so tight I lost feeling in my hands, which resulted in temporary nerve damage," she recounted.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not immediately respond Thursday to emails seeking comment. Minnesota officials sued the Trump administration on Tuesday foraccess to evidencethey say they need to independently investigate the killings.

Savageford said Pretti recorded video of her arrest and yelled at agents to leave her alone.

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She said the officers put her in the back of a vehicle, from which she saw agents shoot and kill Pretti on the other side of the street.

"At that moment, I thought I was going to die too. I pleaded with the agents to understand why another life was taken, and to not take mine," she said.

She added that they told her to shut up and to stop being hysterical. She said they then took her to an ICE holding facility where she was held for 12 hours in a cold cell without ready access to food, water or the bathroom until she was released without being charged.

"I did not know him, but I knew he had my back," she said of Pretti. "I know the kind of heart he had. One that loves and protects without limits."

Savageford shared her story at a news conference wherecivil rights attorney John Burris, of Oakland, California, and other lawyers laid out how they're paving the way for potential class-action lawsuits over alleged excessive force used against protesters and monitors.

Burris, who specializes in police misconduct, helped win an $11 million settlement against the Oakland Police Department in 2003, and helped win a civil jury verdict of $3.8 million for the latemotorist Rodney King, who was beaten by Los Angeles police officers in 1991.

He said he and his colleagues have filed complaints with federal agencies involved in the Minnesota enforcement surge on behalf of 10 people, including Savageford, as the first step in a process that's likely to lead to a larger class-action lawsuit.

"We have many others that are under investigation that have not completed the process. But I thought it was important for us to start this process now. Put the government on notice that we're here," Burris said.

A traditional Lakota star quilt that draped McKenna's casket had soft shades of red and purple stripes, the same colors her nails were painted when she died.

After going missing for nearly a week, authorities found McKenna's body onMarch 19in a rural area of Brookings, roughly an hour north of her home in Sioux Falls. Authorities have not said how they believe she died − explaining that they're awaiting the results of an autopsy this week − but they have vowed to get justice for the teen.

McKenna's devastated family laid her to rest on Thursday, March 26, in Sioux Falls, where she lived with her grandparents. Her community remembered the teenager, who also went by Kenna, as a bright and curious girl who loved animals and other "little critters."

She had a cricket habitat inside her locker at George McGovern Middle School and a dog named Iris. She took care of two hermit crabs before she had to bury them in her backyard. with a cross made by her grandpa.

She would catch tadpoles in the backyard. And she begged to take in any of the frogs she found in the grass after it rained.

As McKenna's family mourns and questions continue to swirl about the circumstances surrounding the teen's death, here's how those who loved her remembered her on a somber day in South Dakota and what to know about the case.

McKenna Wendel made friends, teachers 'feel special'

McKenna was an eighth grade "cheerful and social" student, McKenna's teacher, Brigid Berger, said as part of a tribute at the teen's funeral.

"My clearest memories are the way she was able to make the people around her feel special and feel seen," Berger said. "To Kenna's family, thank you for sharing your beautiful granddaughter, sister, daughter and cousin with all of us."

The Rev. Christina O'Hara, who presided over McKenna's funeral at the same Episcopal church she was baptized in years ago, said the loss of McKenna has been "extremely troubling."

"If we believe in a loving God, how can that God allow these things to happen?" O'Hara said. "This work of grief begins now as we learn to feel McKenna with us in spirit."

McKenna's grandparents, Ralph and Rose Wendel, took care of McKenna. She was "the center around which their lives revolved," the girl'sobituaryreads.

As members of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate), they helped her develop a "deep pride" in her Native American heritage. Her uncles, aunties and cousins Warner, Alayona and Kenai were also in the pews, holding each other.

A visitation and vigil for McKenna brings in hundreds

Ronald Blackman, a friend of McKenna's mother and a Wacipi dancer and pastor at the Church of Deliverance in Sioux Falls, said the teen's death has been "so tough for them."

Blackman was part of the Wakiyan Sapa Singers, a regional drum group that performed prayer songs at McKenna's wake on March 25.

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Classmates held pink flowers and cried, and her grandparents thanked everyone for coming.

Related:See photos from a Native American Day parade that McKenna and her family were part of in 2024.

Wesley Brandis attended the visitation with his daughter, Aaliyah Brandis, who was McKenna's best friend. They made TikTok videos together, listened to music and watched sunsets side by side. Now there's a void in Aaliyah's heart, Brandis said, as she slowly shares "more and more stories" of her friend.

Brandis made the star quilt, the one McKenna's family will now keep, and he also started a GoFundMe page to help with funeral costs.

"I'm heartbroken that you are getting (this quilt) the way you are," he said in a tribute to McKenna. "She had a bright future ahead of her. Her laugh was infectious, and she had jokes that could cheer anyone up."

Blackman said: "Kenna just always knew she was loved."

What we know about McKenna Wendel's case

McKenna Wendel was last seen in Sioux Falls, where she lived with her grandparents, around 1:30 a.m. on March 14. She was reported missing on March 15, with police saying that she was last with a family member but declining to specify who.

Authorities found McKenna's body in a rural area of Brookings on Thursday, March 19. Two people led them to the location, Sioux Falls Lt. Terrance Matia told reporters this week, though he did not elaborate. He said someone "transported her in a vehicle" to the site.

Authorities have said very little about what they believed happened to McKenna, though Matia said that she "and others may have traveled to other locations" during the time she was gone, including Iowa, Minnesota and multiple locations in South Dakota. Matia declined to elaborate but said his agency is working with the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the South Dakota Attorney General's Office "in locating where the venue would be if criminal charges were to come in the future."

South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley, who was at the scene in a rural area when McKenna's body was recovered, told reporters that he has assured her family "that law enforcement is giving this the attention it deserves."

"This is a 14-year-old little girl," Jackley said. "You can be assured that law enforcement is going to continue to give this the attention it deserves to bring justice to what happened to McKenna."

Authorities said they plan to release more information after McKenna's autopsy is finished as soon as this week.

Angela George is a trending news reporter with the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, part of the USA Today Co. network. Email ageorge@usatodayco.com.

Amanda Lee Myers is a senior crime reporter who covers cold case investigations and the death penalty for USA TODAY. Follow her on X at @amandaleeusat.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:As questions swirl about McKenna Wendel's death, a community mourns

Bennett Stirtz scored 20 points and Folgueiras had 16 for the Hawkeyes (24-12), whoknocked off top-seeded Floridain the second round on Folgueiras' 3-pointer in the closing seconds.

Iowa will face either Illinois or Houston on Saturday for a spot in the Final Four. McCollum, who won four Division II national titles at Northwest Missouri State, has now led Iowa to its fifth Elite Eight and first since 1987.

Fourth-seeded Nebraska (28-7) took an early 10-point lead against its Big Ten rival, and Iowa tied it four times but never led until Stirtz buried a 3-pointer to make it 68-65 with 2:10 to go. Sage Tate hit another 3 to cap a 9-0 run and put Iowa ahead 71-65.

The Cornhuskers got within three on a second-chance 3 by Braden Frager, but they were disorganized on the inbound play, leaving Folgueiras unguarded near the rim. He slammed it home — popping up screaming after he finished through contact as Iowa fans roared — and converted the free throw for a six-point lead.

Another dunk by Folgueiras with 34 seconds left made it 76-68.

Iowa transfer Pryce Sandfort made six 3s and scored 25 points for Nebraska, which won the first two March Madness games in program history to get this far. Frager added 16 points for coach Fred Hoiberg's Cornhuskers, who delighted a traveling contingent of red-clad fans throughout their tournament run.

SOUTH REGION

NO. 3 Illinois 65, NO. 2 HOUSTON 55

HOUSTON (AP) — David Mirkovic had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Illinois flexed its defensive muscles to eliminate last year's national runner-up, beating Houston.

Next up is a meeting Saturdaywith ninth-seeded Iowato see which Big Ten team will advance to the Final Four. It will be the 11th Elite Eight appearance for Illinois (27-8) and its second in three seasons under Brad Underwood.

In theSweet 16for a seventh consecutive time, the second-seeded Cougars (30-7) were thrilled to be playing a game just over two miles from their campus. But their poor shooting gave Houston fans little to cheer about and delighted the orange-clad Illini faithful who made the long trip to Texas.

Star freshman point guard Kingston Flemings, who expected to be an NBA lottery pick, had 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting and Milos Uzan made just 2 of 11 shots.

But they were far from the only Cougars who struggled offensively. The team shot just 34% in its lowest-scoring game of the season.

Illinois finished well under the 84.7 points a game it averaged entering Thursday. But its offense was still plenty powerful enough to send Houston back to its nearby campus. Keaton Wagler had 13 points and 12 rebounds for the Illini, and Andrej Stojakovic — with his dad, three-time NBA All-Star Peja Stojakovic, in the stands — also scored 13.

WEST REGION

NO. 1 ARIZONA 109, NO. 4 ARKANSAS 88

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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Arizona finally got over the Sweet 16 hurdle under coach Tommy Lloyd, getting 23 points from Brayden Burries and a dominant offensive effort in a win over Arkansas.

Fellow freshmen Koa Peat added 21 points and Ivan Kharchenkov had 15 as the top-seeded Wildcats (35-2) won their 12th straight game overall to tie a school record for wins in a season and advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2015.

Arizona will play second-seeded Purdue on Saturday night for a spot in the Final Four.

Jaden Bradley, Motiejus Krivas and Tobe Awaka all scored 14 points as Arizona became the first team in NCAA Tournament history with six players scoring at least 14 points in a game.

Lloyd has won a record 147 games in his first five seasons as a head coach but has been unable to find tournament success before this season. Arizona had lost three times in the Sweet 16 and once in the first round as a No. 2 seed in Lloyd's first four seasons.

But the Wildcats have rolled through this year's tournament outside of a couple of tense moments in the second round against Utah State, outscoring the opposition by 67 points in three double-digit wins.

Freshman Darius Acuff Jr. scored 28 points for fourth-seeded Arkansas (28-9) in what might be the final college game for the talented freshman who scored 88 points in three tournament games. But he didn't get nearly enough help against the deeper Wildcats.

NO. 2 PURDUE 79, NO. 11 TEXAS 77

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Trey Kaufman-Renntipped in a miss by Braden Smithwith 0.7 seconds left, and Purdue edged hobbling Texas star Tramon Mark and the Longhorns in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Texas (21-15) tied it moments earlier when Dailyn Swain made a driving layup, was fouled and converted the three-point play with 11.9 seconds to go. Smith had scored on his own drive with 38 seconds remaining and finished with 16 points.

Kaufman-Renn hit his first seven shots — going 6 for 6 and grabbing five rebounds in the first half — on the way to 20 points. He was mobbed by teammates right after the final buzzer sounded at SAP Center.

Mark scored 29 for the Longhorns, grimacing and clearly in pain limping on his injured left foot through the closing minutes when the sixth-year senior's team needed him most. His points were the most by a Texas player in an NCAA Tournament game since Kevin Durant scored 30 against Southern California in the second round of the 2007 tournament.

Purdue (30-8) advances to Saturday's Elite Eight game against either top-seeded Arizona (34-2) or No. 4 seed Arkansas (28-8), who were playing the late game at SAP Center.

Texas coach Sean Miller made his ninth Sweet 16 appearance in 21 seasons, the most of any coach who hasn't reached the Final Four.

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage:https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Underground Railroad Passageway

Staff at the Merchant's House Museum — an upper crust family home built in 1832 in Manhattan's NoHo district — last month revealed that researchers can now explain the passageway's historical purpose because they recently discovered that the home's original owner was an abolitionist. Historians and Black activists hail it as the first "intact" Underground Railroad site found in New York in over 160 years.

The discovery has substantially raised the museum's foot traffic, along with hopes of staving off a possible nine-story mixed-use building next door because building it could damage the walls and foundation of the adjacent historic site.

"What our engineers are saying is that there really is no way that a building of that size is built immediately next door to the museum without causing significant structural damage to our historic building," said Emily Hill-Wright, the museum's director of operations.

The New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission has been weighing whether to approve the development. Consultants and architects working on the project say the museum should not be heavily impacted.

Revelations about the newly explained passageway come as an executive order by President Donald Trump is being used to removereferences and imagery of slaveryfrom the nation'smuseums, parks and landmarks.

New York-based civil rights activist Al Sharpton has cast the fate of the Merchant's Museum House as a fight for Black and American history.

"When engineers tell me that an African American heritage site is in danger of structural compromise or any other sort of irreversible damage, I listen," Sharpton said in a statement last week.

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The Merchant's House Underground Railroad passageway lies beneath a 2-foot-by-2-foot wooden hatch hidden under a dresser drawer in the second floor hallway. It goes down a 15-foot (4.5 meters) shaft with a built-in ladder. The passageway was first found in the 1930s as the home was being turned into a museum, but it wasn't until 2024 that it came to light the home's first owner, Joseph Brewster, was an abolitionist.

"It's not a dumbwaiter. It's not a laundry chute," Hill-Wright said. "We're able to sort of cross off all of these other theories about what this might have possibly been used for."

The findings have drawn preservationists, history buffs and the general public.

"February was our highest month for visitors in over a year," Hill-Wright said. "You almost get choked up because it is a very visceral experience to see it with your own eyes."

The Underground Railroad network was established byHarriet Tubman, who herself escaped slavery in 1849 and ended up living in Philadelphia. The operation is credited with facilitating the escape of numerous enslaved Black men and women. Tubman used her experiences as a scout, spy and nurse for the Union Army during the Civil War and personally guided 150 Black soldiers on a gunboat raid in South Carolina.

At the time the Brewster home was built, assisting someone through the Underground Railroad was against the law in New York City. There would have been "severe penalties," said Jacob Morris, director of the Harlem Historical Society. There are documented cases of abolitionists getting attacked for protecting enslaved escapees.

"Bounty hunters were all over the place in New York City. They made their living on catching freedom-seeking Blacks," Morris said. "If you got caught helping Blacks escape from slavery, a mob could come and burn down your house and beat you up. And maybe even tar and feather you or worse."

Tang reported from Phoenix.

Or is itthe other way around?

We're so deep into this nonsensicalcollege sports power struggle, it's getting harder by the day to decipher who's winning and who's whining.

The latest dust-up of the unsustainable that will lead to the unrecognizable (daily propaganda from coaches, not me):Will Wade left NC State for LSUafter all of one season as coach in Raleigh.

And the college sports ecosystemlost its collective mind.

It's just another example of coaches living under the "do as I say, not as I do" umbrella of unreasonable protection and deflection. Rules for thee, not for me.

And you know what? They're right.

Because decades of coaches leaving after one season are distinctly different than the still wet paint of players and their annual free movement. No matter what a talking bobblehead screams on television, or your buddy posts on social media.

The day all players begin paying buyouts to contracts — or in their current financial setup, NIL deals — is the day this thing is equal.

Starting over:DJ Lagway felt isolated, depressed at Florida. He's rewriting his story at Baylor | Exclusive

Careful what you wish for:Sonny Dykes rips Josh Hoover but Curt Cignetti may get last laugh

Before we go further, let's not ignore the Hurricane in the room: Darian Mensah had to buy out his NIL deal at Duke this offseason to move, and Miami not only paid it, but gave Mensah a mega one-year mercenary deal before he leaves for the NFL.

Wade paid $4 million to leave NC State, which means LSU transferred those funds to NC State to bring aconvicted NCAA cheater— at LSU! — back to Baton Rouge. And that, if you can believe it, isn't the focus of this story.

If North Carolina wants to hire Todd Golden from Florida, the Tar Heels will have to cover his $16 million buyout. Or $11 million to poach Tommy Lloyd from Arizona.

If you're bleeding cash in a second-tier Power conference, that's a significant lift. Unless you're desperate.

It's here where we reintroduce Mensah and the Miami marriage.

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Miami paid Mensah's buyout because Mensah played it perfectly. Waited until the last day possible to enter the transfer portal, knowing full well that one specific team was desperate for a quarterback.

Knowing full well Miami had played the past two successful (but not championship) seasons with transfer quarterbacks — the most high-profile, high-priced transfer quarterbacks (Cam Ward, Carson Beck) — and the current quarterback room in Coral Gables was, shall we say, lacking.

So Mensah's representatives made it clear he was one year into a two-year NIL deal, and owed millions. Miami then sucked it up and paid the buyout, and then signed Mensah to a deal.

Three different Power conference coaches, speaking on the condition of anonymity to protect the unique NIL process, told USA TODAY Sports that Miami paid in excess of $10 million total to complete the deal.

If Brendan Sorsby's buyout from Cincinnati was $10 million instead of $1 million, maybe Texas Techbillionaire booster Cody Campbellwould've double-clutched when pursuing him. If Sam Leavitt had any buyout in his Arizona State deal, maybe LSU and Tennessee would've thought twice about bidding against each other to see who could give Leavitt more foundational money.

OK, maybe not those two deep-pocket programs. But you get the point.

Until all players have buyouts in their NIL deals, until all players have to see that buyout as at least a pregnant pause to leaving, it's not the same thing as coaches and their free movement.

If Golden didn't have a $15 million buyout, how much easier would it be for North Carolina to throw a Belichickian deal at him? And not give Florida, already flush with cash as a big fish in the money-printing SEC machine, a $15 million gift?

Look, if a university or program wants a coach or player badly enough, no realistic buyout money is going to stop them. That's the nature of the current college sports business model.

Until the only guardrails that work are instituted, this is the deal.Until players are made employees(like coaches), and until players then collectively bargain for 48% of the media rights billions, the only answer to limiting player movement is fat buyouts.

Then players must decide between more money up front with a large buyout, or less money in their pocket with no buyout. And if they're at the elite of their profession (it's a professional game now, everyone, don't kid yourselves), they can name their price and deal.

Like Kalen DeBoer did two years ago when he left Washington. He was happy with the Huskies, had just led the program to the national championship game.

But Alabama came along and had no problem giving him an $87 million contract, and covering his $12 million buyout from Washington. It is believed to be the largest buyout in college football history.

For a 20-8 record, and a 35-point loss in the Rose Bowl. To a basketball school.

Now who's winning and who's whining?

Matt Hayesis the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at@MattHayesCFB.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Will Wade leaving NC State is different than players leaving programs

The 2026 first-team All-American and UConn's leader in points, rebounds, steals and blocks will lead the top-seeded Huskies against No. 4-seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Friday (5 p.m. ET, ESPN).

"They were one of my top schools, I almost went there," Strong said. "I really am a big fan of UNC. I wanted to stay home at one point."

North Carolina head coach Courtney Banghart and her staff pursued the "generational prospect" aggressively during the 2024 recruiting cycle, hoping to keep the state's top player close to home.

"Sarah has been in my house. I spent a lot of time interviewing Sarah Strong," Banghart said. "We played them last year in Greensboro, and my kids, who were young, ran right up to her and hugged her because they clearly missed her."

When decision time came, the opportunity to join one of the sport's most decorated programs proved too compelling for the No. 1 overall recruit.

UConn Huskies forward Sarah Strong (21) named Big East Player Of The Year as they celebrate their Big East Championship win over the Villanova Wildcats at Mohegan Sun Arena on Mar 9, 2026.

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Sarah Strong, UConn look for perfection and another championship

UConn Huskies forwardSarah Strong(21) named Big East Player Of The Year as they celebrate their Big East Championship win over the Villanova Wildcats at Mohegan Sun Arena on Mar 9, 2026.

"I just looked at winning, and I saw coach (Geno) and what he's built here, the great history, and I just really wanted to be part of that," Strong said.

Basketball has surrounded Strong since her childhood. Her mother, Allison Feaster, starred at Harvard ― where the No. 16 seed Crimson defeated No. 1 Stanford in the 1998 NCAA Tournament ― before playing in the WNBA from 1998-2008. Her father, Danny Strong, played collegiately at NC State, and both parents later built professional careers overseas.

Strong spent the first decade of her life in Spain while her parents played, then moved to Durham, North Carolina. Tar Heels sophomore center Blanca Thomas remembers high school matchups against Strong, noting her skills even then.

"It's been really cool to see how she gets better every year, seeing how she has grown since the first year I ever played her as a true post to now, where she's such a versatile player," Thomas said. "She was always good, and after two or three years playing against each other, and seeing the big growth year to year, I knew that she could be something super special."

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Despite the deep basketball pedigree, Strong said her parents did not insist she play.

"They always made sure that I wanted to do it, that I wanted to one day play college basketball and hopefully one day professionally – she always asked me that," Strong said. "So they never pushed me to do anything. I like it, I was always on it."

The result has been one of the most impactful sophomore seasons in the country. Strong was named the USWBA Player of the Year and became the first UConn player since the 2016-17 season to record more than 100 steals in a single season ― all with a WNBA top-five pick in Azzi Fudd on the team.

Strong noted she enjoys the culture she felt upon arriving in Storrs, Connecticut. The relationships inside the Huskies' locker room quickly reinforced her decision.

"I have a bunch of sisters that I've made friends with when I first got here," she said. "All the relationships that I made out of basketball are really important to me."

Now, Strong's path circles back to the school she nearly chose. UConn and North Carolina have met only once before in the NCAA Tournament: a 1994 Tar Heels' victory in a season that ended with their only national championship.

While Benghart recognizes the challenges Strong and the Huskies possess, she knows at least one Tar Heel fan will be happy to see her.

"When we saw we would draw UConn if we kept winning, my daughter said, 'Oh, I get to see Sarah Strong,'" she said.

Andy Mathis is a student in the University of Georgia 's Carmical Sports Media Institute

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:North Carolina native Sarah Strong will lead UConn against UNC in the Sweet 16