UConn Huskies star Azzi Fudd has announced her intentions to return to the school next season for her final year of college basketball.
Fudd, who was a projected 1st round pick in the upcoming WNBA draft, announced her decision Tuesday, stating that an additional year at the collegiate level will allow her to “work on everything I need to work on”.
“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,” head coach Geno Auriemma told reporters. “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.”
A former number 1 overall recruit out of high school, Fudd’s time at UConn has been disjointed due to several injuries which has limited her to just 72 games over the last 4 seasons. With projected number 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers intending to join the WNBA ranks next year, another season at the school will allow Fudd to take on additional leadership roles, and elevate her game even further.
“There’s no more, ”Oh, next year,” Fudd said. “Next year is the year, well this year first, but next year, I want to get all these things done, and I want to make sure that him and all the other coaches, even my teammates, are on my back, making sure that I’m being held accountable for everything.”
The Huskies are now the betting favourites to win the NCAA title this year following the injury to USC star Juju Watkins last night. UConn currently has the healthiest, and deepest roster they’ve seen in years as both Fudd and Bueckers are both on the court at the same time for the longest stretch of their collegiate careers.
UConn flexed their muscle in a 103-34 dismantling of 15th seed Arkansas State in the first round on March 22nd, then carried that momentum forward with a 91-57 victory over 10th seeded South Dakota State on Monday. Up next for Fudd and her teammates is a showdown with 3rd seed Oklahoma on March 29th in the Sweet 16.
Photo: John Mac. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.