Geno Auriemma's Brutally Honest Azzi Fudd Advice Sparked UConn Return
If it hadn't already been clear, the No. 1-ranked UConn Huskies women's basketball team further proved that they're the favorites to win the 2026 national championship after their 72-69 victory over the No. 6-ranked Michigan Wolverines on November 21.
This win was largely on the back of star guard Azzi Fudd, who finished the contest with 31 points and drained 7 three-pointers on 12 attempts. There's no question that UConn will go as far as Fudd takes them, as she's both the team's first scoring option (along with superstar sophomore Sarah Strong) and their leader on the court.
One of the biggest storylines heading into the 2025 NCAA tournament was whether Fudd was going to declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft or come back to UConn for one final college season. Her teammate and girlfriend, Paige Bueckers, made her intentions of going to the WNBA clear, and many expected Fudd to do the same, if only because she probably would have been a top-five pick in the draft.
But Fudd chose to come back to UConn.
Geno Auriemma's Azzi Fudd "Full Potential" Conversation Prompted UConn Return
Fudd was profiled by Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post in a November 23 article. At one point, Fudd spoke about the discussion she had with her head coach, Geno Auriemma, that ultimately led to her running it back with the Huskies for one more year.
“‘I’ll support you no matter what, whatever you decide, but your time here at U Conn., you have not reached your full potential,’” Azzi recalled Auriemma telling her when Fudd was making her decision last year, per an X post from Dougherty. “‘And you would kind of be doing yourself a disservice by going to the WNBA. Teams wouldn’t really know who they’re drafting because … I’d say you’ve only played five games where you are playing peak Azzi Fudd basketball.’”
Fudd then said she thought, "He’s right. I’ve been here four years, and that number is way too low," after hearing this from Auriemma.
When Azzi and Geno Auriemma sat down last spring to talk about whether she'd return, he was, per usual, very honest with her.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) November 23, 2025
She had, in his estimation, played very, very, very few games of what he called "peak Azzi Fudd basketball."
And she agreed. https://t.co/zLol2k3F06 pic.twitter.com/dHYdq3cmFl
Given that women's basketball legend and ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo believes that Fudd should be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft so long as she remains healthy, it would seem that she made the right decision in coming back to UConn.
What's for sure is that Fudd has a great chance of helping Auriemma secure his 13th NCAA championship trophy this season before making the transition to the pro game.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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