UConn's Sarah Strong Shocked by Azzi Fudd’s New Role
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The UConn Huskies this season stepped into a new era, one without Paige Bueckers commanding the huddle or setting the tone. For four seasons, Bueckers was the team’s voice and the one who spoke when things got loud or too quiet. When she left for the WNBA, that presence vanished overnight.
However, there was hope when Azzi Fudd, one of the projected top picks last season, announced she was coming back to Storrs. Everyone assumed she’d be the next to take the reins. Except that wasn’t the case, at least, not at first.
Instead, it was freshman phenom Sarah Strong who caught Geno Auriemma’s attention.
“You know, every huddle that she’s in, she’s the one doing the talking,” Auriemma said after the Boston College Exhibition match. “That would have never happened last season. It happened again today.”
Sarah Strong Didn’t See This Side of Azzi Fudd Coming
Strong, who was criticized last season for not being vocal enough, had found her stride. “She’s on another level,” Auriemma added. Soon after the BC game, the Huskies played their second exhibition against Southern Connecticut State, and something had shifted on the court.
Azzi Fudd, the quiet sniper, had started to speak up in the huddle. And for teammate Sarah Strong, that change was, well, “shocking.” In the SCSU match, Fudd’s voice came through in the huddle.
“She just came out looking very assertive and not really hesitant,” Strong said. “She knew where she wanted the ball and how she wanted to score it.”
However, it is not just the shooting that caught Strong off guard.
“Just seeing her talking more was really, really shocking,” Strong said.
For years, Fudd had been surrounded by loud, natural leaders like Paige Bueckers and Nika Muhl, voices that filled every timeout. But with them gone, there was silence to fill, and Fudd stepped into it.
my leader azzi fudd pic.twitter.com/aT6iTnHGC9
— #21 (@9uckles) October 26, 2025
The two stars had even discussed it privately after practice. Fudd showed up at Strong’s room one day, and the conversation turned real.
“We both agreed that people are probably going to look up to us,” Strong said. “And how we probably need to do a better job leading on the court and just getting the reps at it in practice so we can do it naturally in games.”
It was a pact and one that is already showing results. Strong scored 11 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists in SCSU's exhibition, but the real story was Fudd’s newfound confidence. After years of injury setbacks and stop-start seasons, this version of her looked free.
The Post-Bueckers Era Starts with a Statement
By the time the Huskies tipped off their regular season against Louisville, the transformation was undeniable. Strong scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds, while Fudd added 20 of her own in a 79–66 win that extended UConn’s unbeaten streak in season openers since 1995.
Azzi Fudd tonight 🔥
— Women’s Hoops Network (@WomensHoops_USA) November 5, 2025
• 20 points
• 3 assists pic.twitter.com/POahi1lDg3
The Huskies raced to a 14–1 lead behind threes from Fudd and KK Arnold, playing with the kind of tempo and chemistry that had been missing at times last year. Post-Bueckers UConn was supposed to be about figuring out who would speak next.
Instead, it turns out, they had two voices capable of leading the Huskies all along. And for Strong, the sight of Fudd leading out loud still feels new. But for the Huskies, it’s the kind of shock that changes everything.
-fd44250df32912986cc6690f0b8bfa32.png "Shivani Menon")
Shivani Menon is a sports journalist with a background in Mass Communication and a passion for storytelling. She has written for EssentiallySports, College Sports Network, and PFSN, covering Olympic sports like track and field, gymnastics, and alpine skiing, as well as college football, basketball, March Madness, and the NBL Draft. When she's not reporting, she's either on the road chasing sunsets or getting lost in the rhythms of electronic soundscapes.