Azzi Fudd is staying at UConn for another season

Former St. John's College (DC) star will forgo the WNBA for at least one more year

UConn Huskies guard Azzi Fudd (35), a graduate of St. John's College (DC) has announced that she will return to the Huskies for the 2025-26 season. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

UCONN guard Azzi Fudd is staying in college for another womens basketball season. 

The Northern Virginia native and former St. John’s College High School (Washington, DC) star announced on social media Tuesday that she would return to UCONN for the 2025-26 campaign and forgo the 2025 WNBA Draft in April. 

The 5-foot-11 sharpshooter, who was named First-team All-Big East, scored 17 points on Monday to help lead UCONN to a 91-57 victory over South Dakota State. The Huskies advanced to the Sweet 16 and are the likely favorite to win the national championship. 

Fudd, who hails from Arlington, Virginia, is expected to be among the top picks in next year’s WNBA Draft. Fudd’s teammate, Paige Bueckers, is the likely No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft.  

During her storied high school career at St. John’s, Fudd was a five-star recruit and was the top-ranked player in the Class of 2021 according to ESPN.  

In 2019, Fudd was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year and was selected USA Today All-USA Player of the Year. She was named Morgan Wootten Player of the Year and McDonald’s All-American in 2021. 

She received her first scholarship offer in the sixth grade from the University of Maryland but chose the Huskies over offers from the Terps and other major college programs including UCLA, Louisville, Oregon, Kentucky, Texas and Notre Dame. 

Fudd has represented the United States in international competition, winning gold medals at the 2017 FIBA Under-16 Women’s Americas Championship in Argentina, the 2018 FIBA Under-17 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Belarus and the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Women’s Basketball World Cup in Hungary. 

Fudd comes from a basketball family; both parents played in college. Her father, Tim, played at American University and her mother, Katie, played at North Carolina State and Georgetown before she was selected by the Sacramento Monarchs in the 2001 WNBA Draft. 

Prior to her sophomore year of high school, Fudd became one of the first girls ever to attend Stephen Curry’s SC30 Select Camp, an elite offseason training camp run by the NBA star and won the camp’s three-point shooting competition. 

In 2021, Fudd signed with Curry’s SC30 Inc. brand for “multidimensional” partnership which includes a sponsorship deal and personal mentoring from the Golden State Warriors All-Star guard.