What Kind of UConn Leader Will Azzi Fudd Be?

ENFIELD—The UConn Huskies' women's basketball program will have a new pack leader in its next national championship defense, albeit one who is far from a Storrs stranger.

With Paige Bueckers set to don her first WNBA jersey, Azzi Fudd becomes the de facto face of the Husky program after surprisingly spurning the WNBA Draft for another year on campus. Fudd solidified such a status with Most Outstanding Player honors at the end of the Huskies' recent national title run, which wrapped up in Tampa last week.

Fudd addressed her new role upon her return to the Constitution State, as she and backcourt teammate KK Arnold greeted and served Connecticut fans gathered at the Enfield branch of Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers.

"I'm definitely going to be vocal next year," Fudd promised. "That's something that I kind of always just took for granted, having Paige, having Nika [Muhl], having Kaitlyn [Chen]. So I think that's like going be the biggest difference is [for me], using my voice, getting on people ... I know that's what the team needs from me. I'm never someone to shy away from something to help my team."

One would be foolish to discount Fudd's wisdom: the shooting guard certainly earned her at success at the top of the Connecticut program, dealing with various injuries before finally enjoying a full year of action this time around. Things culminated in a stirring 24-point performance in the national championship game against South Carolina, just over 500 days after a torn ACL wiped out her 2023-24 campaign.

Fudd would've undoubtedly been one of the top picks after Bueckers at this Monday's WNBA Draft (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) but stuck by her decision to stay in Storrs. While Fudd, who also reached the first All-Big East Team, probably has nothing left to prove on the collegiate level, she claimed that the national title win only vindicated her decision to stay.

"I am even more excited and motivated now to come back and win another one," Fudd said with the Huskies' record-extending 13th title looming. "I can't wait to play more games with every single person, I can't wait to be back around Gampel [Pavilion] with the best fans in the world. So I think this year winning, it just made me more excited and more hungry to have this win again."

If the reaction of underclassman Arnold was any indication, the Husky program has already anointed Fudd as the next great Storrs leader. Arnold said Fudd might not have been this vocal on a wider level last time around but that she got a preview of what the Arlington, VA native could do as she dealt with a move from the starting lineup to the second unit.

"She always comes up to me and make sure that I'm all going straight because I had a couple moments this year," said Arnold, who could slide back into the starting five with the departures of Bueckers and Chen. "But she always had my back and always talked me out of it. She's a great teammate, and I'm very grateful to have one more year with her."

Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags