No, this is not news about Paige Bueckers somehow returning to UConn next season. Instead, this is news that another UConn star will return for one final season. Star guard Azzi Fudd will return to the Huskies and forgo the WNBA Draft with year.
Even though Fudd is eligible to go to the WNBA Draft this season and would have likely been a first-round draft pick, the Virginia native is choosing to take one final year at UConn to work on perfecting her game.
Fudd believes taking one more year with the Huskies will allow her to "work on everything I need to work on" to help her take her game to a whole new level.
Breaking: UConn Huskies star Azzi Fudd will return to college next season and forgo entering the 2025 WNBA draft.
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) March 25, 2025
Fudd told ESPN returning will allow her to “work on everything I need to work on” — and she believes one final year in Storrs will take her game to an all-new level pic.twitter.com/mlhrlIqMYo
After coming back from injury this season, Fudd had been amazing for the Huskies as the third leading scorer, averaging 13.4 points per game, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Fudd does have the highest 3-point shooting percentage on the team, coming in at 45.3% from deep, which is also top-10 in the nation.
According to ESPN, Fudd had a recent conversation with head coach Geno Auriemma, and he helped her realize she had a lot left to accomplish with the Huskies. While he would have supported whatever decision she made, he believes her ceiling is still very high at UConn.
"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.
Fudd has been with the Huskies for the entirety of her college career, and with one year of eligibility left, she has the ability to take this team to a new level, as well as her game, especially with UConn losing superstar Paige Bueckers.
After tearing her ACL in November of 2023, Fudd finally made her return to the four games into the 2024-2025 season and made a career-high 30 appearances in games this season. She will remain a big part of this team and has been a big part in getting the Huskies to the Sweet 16 to take on 3-seed Oklahoma.