Azzi Fudd announces resignation and departure from UConn Huskies Women’s basketball another significant issue for the team

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Azzi Fudd to join Paige Bueckers at UConn

Azzi Fudd made the 500-mile trek from northern Virginia to Knoxville, Tenn., last month to watch UConn take on Tennessee — a matchup that, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, featured a shell of a big-game atmosphere that a top-25 showdown between storied rivals deserves.

But even among the 3,550 fans at Thompson-Boling Arena, Fudd was reminded that this is what lies ahead for her: big road games airing on ESPN, dogfights against tough opponents and playing good, meaningful basketball in front of thousands of fans.

“It was the best feeling,” Fudd said.

Fudd, the consensus No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2021 who signed with UConn in November, watched as her future Huskies teammates clawed ahead in the fourth quarter before Tennessee cut the deficit to two with a minute to play. UConn had a scare when Paige Bueckers exited the game with an ankle sprain, but the freshman phenom (who also happens to be Fudd’s close friend) returned and hit a dagger 3 with 25 seconds remaining in the game.

That Thursday, it was Bueckers who hit the shot that etched her name in UConn lore, starting a run of spellbinding play that’s thrust her onto the national stage and skyrocketed UConn fans’ hopes for March. It won’t be too long before Fudd has the opportunity to do the same, alongside a fellow superstar and her best friend, no less.

People speak of Fudd, a 5-foot-11 guard, similarly to how they spoke of Bueckers before she’d even stepped foot in Storrs. Ultra-skilled, a mega-recruit, one of the best high school players since Breanna Stewart. A generational talent. A player who, alongside Bueckers, has the potential to initiate another crazy UConn winning streak and perhaps a string of national titles.

Though the NCAA made this a “free” year of eligibility for collegiate athletes, Fudd didn’t have a path to graduate early from Washington, D.C.’s St. John’s College High (Saylor Poffenbarger was the only 2021 UConn signee to join the team in January). Fudd is finishing her senior year coursework virtually, plays with her high school team in Maryland and Virginia and, in what’s become a Fudd family affair, watches a lot of UConn basketball. Fudd and Caroline Ducharme, another 2021 UConn signee, text back and forth during the games — during the close ones, “oh my gosh, we’re so nervous,” Fudd said, “and we’re not even playing.”

“After meeting the girls and getting to talk to them, it’s a lot more fun just knowing that I’ll be out there soon with them,” Fudd said, “and that’s my team and my teammates.”

Fudd already has the inside scoop of what Storrs is like from Bueckers, hearing about everything from how hard and detail-oriented practices are to getting a firsthand account of Geno Auriemma’s recent practice player gimmick. Fudd and Bueckers became close years ago through USA Basketball, and Bueckers (the No. 1 recruit in 2020) relentlessly recruited Fudd both privately and publicly to join her at UConn — dangling the prospect of not just playing, but winning championships, together.

The pair like to say they know each other’s games better than anyone else. Bueckers’ stellar debut and clutch play — including, a few weeks after Tennessee, the 31 points and win-sealing 3 she drained against then-No. 1 South Carolina — may have surprised some onlookers, but not Fudd.

“I still can’t really wrap my head around the fact that she’s in college and she’s at UConn,” Fudd said, “but all of the stuff that she’s doing doesn’t surprise me at all. The crazy shots that she’s made? Those are just typical Paige moments and Paige plays.”