STORRS — When Azzi Fudd looks up at the all the banners inside UConn’s Werth Family Champions Center, she’s in awe.
They immortalize national championships and past players who have each created lengthy legacies in women’s basketball. All of whom have also worn the same Husky uniform as Fudd.
The freshman guard gets excited knowing she too has the chance to be a part of the program’s storied history.
“I feel like we’re here to continue on the legacy of UConn and to keep winning,” Fudd said ahead of UConn’s first practice of the 2021-2022 season on Friday. “I know personally I’m excited and I know the rest of the team is excited for the season to start.”
After a summer spent not only getting to know her new UConn teammates and coaches but also winning gold with Team USA at the U19 World Cup, the 5-foot-11 guard feels ready to begin her time in Storrs. And she arrives with pressure and anticipation as the nation’s No. 1 recruit.
“I don’t really feel any pressure. I think I’m nervous just to perform well but those are like intrinsic nerves if that makes sense,” said Fudd, who holds a NIL deal with Chipotle . “I’m super excited and I can’t … I can’t really believe that I’m about to be a freshman, or I am a freshman.”
Outside of her friendship with 2021 National Player of the Year Paige Bueckers, Fudd said she is already becoming close friends with the rest of the team. As for her fellow freshmen, Fudd has been friends with Caroline Ducharme since middle school and got to know Amari DeBerry this summer with Team USA.
Those previous bonds, along with the support from the returning players, has helped Fudd adjust to life on the team and transition into college. The players hang out often off the court, playing board games like Uno, making TikTok videos, going to the beach and local restaurants, and even making an end-of-summer trip to the Big E in Massachusetts.
“The upperclassmen … do a really good job of making you feel included,” Fudd said. “The sophomores, they’re a loud, outgoing group and I think that definitely helps people feel comfortable and welcomed.”
It’s this closeness off the court that has brought a sense of competitiveness to practices and workouts. While some players attribute the competitiveness to the team’s depth of talent this season, others say it comes from having close bonds with each other and knowing any push or shove during practice is just making them each individually better.
“The competitiveness that we have on the court, you can’t really have without how close we are off the court,” Fudd said. “Because we are able to hold each other accountable. … We know that we’re making each other better, not being aggressive, to make ourselves individually look better. We know that we’re doing it for each other’s sake.”
Before beginning full-time at Storrs, Fudd ended the summer with Team USA at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Hungary. She said the experience playing against players from all over the world and working with Team USA coaches Cori Close (UCLA) and Joni Taylor (Georgia) helped her learn how to quickly pick up a team’s plays and how to make better reads to prevent overthinking on the court.
During the World Cup, Fudd helped led Team USA to gold by averaging 9.0 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game across seven games.
“Just the experience of playing against girls who play professionally year-round, I think that definitely helps,” Fudd said. “Also getting to be coached by other college coaches … I think getting to learn their offenses and stuff and getting to learn how their mind worked kind of helped coming back here, just learning another [offense] because was still from a college coach’s perspective.”
Fudd said she’s continually learning from playing against and working out with her UConn teammates during the preseason. It was when she took a bump from senior Christyn Williams and fell during the summer that she realized just how much more intense and stronger college players are than what she was used to in high school.
“I think defensively, it’s harder [than high school] because there really is no time to rest because everyone’s moving, cutting, like everyone’s IQ is so much higher,” Fudd said. “But offensively, I think it makes it easier. It’s so much fun to play with everyone because you know everyone’s capable of driving, making the shot and making a good play for the next person. So, it makes me excited to come back to the gym.”
Fudd’s official Husky debut isn’t for another four weeks when UConn hosts Fort Hayes State in an exhibition game. But for now, she’s excited to get to work alongside her new coaches and teammates under all the banners that constantly motivate her as she looks to add to the UConn legacy.
“My first couple weeks here it was kind of like … I couldn’t really believe I’m here,” Fudd said.
maggie.vanoni@hearstmediact.com