Women's Fastbreak On SI

Paige Bueckers Is Pumped About Azzi Fudd's Two-Word UConn Return Tease

UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers is happy about teammate Azzi Fudd's recent activity, both on and off the court.

Grant Young

Jan 21, 2023; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) and guard Azzi Fudd (35) on the sideline for team warm up before the start of the game against the Butler Bulldogs at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Jan 21, 2023; Storrs, Connecticut, USA; UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers (5) and guard Azzi Fudd (35) on the sideline for team warm up before the start of the game against the Butler Bulldogs at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The No. 2 ranked UConn Huskies already look like one of women's college basketball's best teams to start the 2024-25 season.

This is largely owed to superstar Paige Bueckers showing once again that she's about as close to unguardable as there is on the college level right now, plus the emergence of freshman Sarah Strong has proved that UConn's future will remain bright once Bueckers leaves for the WNBA.

What's perhaps most impressive about UConn's success is that they're still without star guard Azzi Fudd, who is projected to be a first-round pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft (if she decides to declare) despite being sidelined for about a year since suffering a torn ACL last November.

When UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said, "I would expect we see [Fudd], at some point... soon," last week, many eager fans took that to mean that she would be returning for last Friday's game against UNC.

Alas, that ended up not coming to fruition — but it's clear that Fudd's return to the court is imminent. And she alluded to this with an Instagram post on Monday.

"Coming soooooon 😉," Fudd wrote in the post's caption, which featured photos of her from UConn's media day.

The top comment is from Bueckers, who wrote, "You have been so active, way to go girl!"

Bueckers is referencing the fact that Fudd caught some (lighthearted) flack from UConn fans over the past couple of months because she scarcely posted on social media, and when she did, it was typically a highly-curated advertisement or sponsorship.

But Fudd has been more active on Instagram in recent weeks — and is about to be active on the basketball court again.

Published |Modified
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

Home/News