Azzi Fudd, Paige Bueckers will lead Connecticut against Maryland
On the heels of a tumultuous school year, Azzi Fudd had a hectic summer.
The University of Connecticut basketball star spent some time back home in Arlington, Va., working on her game. She also spent time in North Carolina with Brandon Payne, a trainer who works with Stephen Curry, and she traveled to the Bay Area to work as a coach at the two-time NBA MVP’s camp. There was a summer session back on campus in Connecticut, a trip to Minnesota and a 10-day European tour with the Huskies that included stops in Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Oh, she also hosted her own basketball camp at her high school alma mater, St. John’s in D.C.
All the while, Fudd continued to rehab the right knee injury that limited her to 15 games as a sophomore, eventually ditching the brace she wore to finish the campaign.
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“I was kind of all over the place,” Fudd explained. “That’s the wonderful thing about basketball: There’s always going to be a hoop, and there’s always going to be a ball. You can do it anywhere.”
Fudd is finally healthy but is still working to regain her form as the eighth-ranked Huskies prepare to host No. 20 Maryland, the local program that recruited her since middle school, on Thursday night in Storrs, Conn.
She’s part of a reloaded program that missed the Final Four last spring for the first time in 16 years. The Huskies’ season was derailed by injuries, with Paige Bueckers, Dorka Juhasz, Caroline Ducharme, Ice Brady and Ayanna Patterson also missing significant time. Fudd credited her teammates and her family — her parents, Tim and Katie, are accomplished players — with helping her through the frustration.
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Bueckers played a particularly critical role in Fudd’s recovery. The 2020-21 Associated Press player of the year had already dealt with a pair of major knee injuries since arriving at Connecticut, and she created a routine that Fudd could see and use for motivation to stay consistent with her own processes.
Injuries can take a mental toll, so Fudd and Bueckers would go to church more often, and Fudd began to read self-help and motivational books.
“That’s still something that I’m working on, the mental aspect,” Fudd said.
In the first two games of her junior season, Fudd has averaged 11 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists while shooting 32 percent from the field and 28.6 percent from behind the arc for the Huskies (1-1). Those aren’t numbers befitting a former No. 1 recruit who was named to an NCAA tournament all-region team as a freshman in 2022. Fudd acknowledged she is still trying to find her role and regain her aggression on both ends of the floor.
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“She’s always been a great player,” said Maryland guard Jakia Brown-Turner, who has played against Fudd since their AAU days. “Especially now, we have to get to her. She’s a shooter and she has a nice pull-up. So we just have to make sure that we contest all of her shots and make it hard for her.”
Christy Winters-Scott will be on the Fox Sports 1 broadcast Thursday and has been watching Fudd grow as a player since Fudd was a child. Her daughter, Georgetown forward Brianna Scott, played with Fudd in the youth basketball program run by Fudd’s parents.
“She looks the same to me,” Winters-Scott said. “I’m not shading [Connecticut Coach Geno Auriemma] at all. ... I read earlier this year, she’s a reluctant star, he’s calling her. I don’t think she’s a reluctant star. Maybe her role as the star needs to be defined by Geno. Maybe that’s what is missing from her. Because she can take over a game. She’s a star, and she’s been a star. I love her. She’s the sweetest kid. However, she needs to go and be a killer.”
Fudd and the Huskies are coming off a 92-81 loss to North Carolina State on Sunday that dropped them from the No. 2 ranking. The Terps (1-1) should be plenty hungry themselves after a 114-76 loss to now-top-ranked South Carolina — Maryland allowed the most points in a game since Coach Brenda Frese took over the program.
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Either the Terps or Huskies will feel much better about themselves by the end of the night Thursday. The Huskies, perennially deep and talented, are getting healthy and have Fudd and Bueckers back at the reins.
“I can’t believe I’m a junior. I feel old,” Fudd said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t say much is different. We’re expected to be more leaders now and more of a vocal leader as well, which is not something that comes easily to me.”
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