Azzi Fudd will return next season as UConn’s undisputed leader

“See you next year,” Fudd posted, followed by a series of emojis and the hashtag #onemoreyear.

Although she arrived at UConn in the Fall of 2021, in many ways it feels like Fudd’s Husky career has just begun to take off. She missed 11 games with a lingering foot issue as a freshman. As a sophomore, knee injuries limited her to just 15 games, and last season, as a junior, she redshirted after tearing her ACL before the third game of the season.

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Fudd was a bit slow to transition back to the court at the start of this season, spraining her knee and missing three games in December. She’s since strung together a career-high 25 consecutive games. In her return, she’s showed the country why she was the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2021, stacking good games and shooting the ball with calculated efficiency (48.6% from the field, 45.3% from deep and 92.6% from the charity stripe). She has six games scoring 20+ points, and she’s shown glimpses of brilliance, including a 34-point performance (including eight 3-pointers) in a February victory over St. John’s.

“Having someone of Azzi’s ability and the way she can just control a game, she just hasn’t had an opportunity, at this point, to fully show who she is, what she can do, what impact she can have on our program and on college basketball,” Auriemma told ESPN. “So hopefully being here another year, having an injury-free year, knock on wood, can remind everybody this is the Azzi Fudd that was coming out of high school, and can we get a full year out of that? I’m as excited as anybody, our fans, anybody to see what can happen.”

With Azzi’s return confirmed, UConn’s 2025-26 roster is beginning to take shape — revealing a tremendous amount of returning talent and clarifying for the program its offseason transfer portal needs. Fudd will undoubtedly be a starter next season, likely alongside current starters Jana El Alfy and Sarah Strong. Guards KK Arnold and Ashlynn Shade, starters for most of their freshmen seasons (2023-24) are expected to return to the starting lineup in place of outgoing guards Kaitlyn Chen and Paige Bueckers. With Bueckers gone, Fudd will step into the role of the team’s seasoned leader.

“Paige is going to be gone, so I can’t rely on her to speak and do all that [leadership] stuff, on and off the court,” Fudd said. “I will have to be in that position.”

Next season the Huskies also welcome newcomers in 5’9 freshmen Kelis Fisher, 6’6 Irish center Gandy Malou-Mamel and 6’2 forward Blanca Quiñonez. That means, pending any outgoing transfers this offseason, the Huskies have one scholarship available to offer to a transfer. Geno and his coaching staff are reportedly pursuing All-Big Ten forward in 6’4 Serah Williams.

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Fudd’s decision to stay in Storrs for a final season is also strategic. While she was projected to be a late lottery pick in this year’s WNBA Draft, her health and injury histories have put into question her readiness for a WNBA roster. Additionally, while she continues to accumulate wealth from name, image and likeness (NIL) endorsements at UConn, she has the potential make far more than the roughly $75,000 that will be paid to first round draft picks in 2025. With the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA) set to be renegotiated this summer, salaries could double or triple by next season’s draft.

For the next few weeks, though, Fudd isn’t looking ahead to her pro career or even next season. With her decision made and the announcement out of the way, she’s zeroed in on making the most of this year’s NCAA Tournament, her first since her sophomore season. UConn is a favorite to hang a national championship banner this season, and Fudd is committed to that goal.

“I don’t want to take any second, any possession, for granted,” Fudd said. “I don’t want to have that kind of passive mindset, not once this tournament. I’m playing for my teammates. I’m playing for me who couldn’t play last year and [UConn’s current injured players].

“I know what it feels like to be on the outside, so I don’t want to take even a possession for granted or lightly at all but especially now during the tournament.”