UConn Star Azzi Fudd Snubbed From AP Preseason All-America Team
While the WNBA season coming to an end each year is always a sad time for the women's basketball community, it also means that the college basketball season is right around the corner.
Now that the 2025-26 NCAA women's basketball regular season tips off in the next couple of weeks, fans can turn their attention toward what the country's landscape will look like in terms of the top teams and players. The bad news is that several great players, including USC Trojans superstar guard JuJu Watkins and South Carolina Gamecocks forward Chloe Kitts, have announced that they'll be sidelined for the rest of the season because they're rehabbing from ACL tears.
The good news is that the country still has many other star players who are expected to produce massive campaigns. Two such players are on the defending NCAA champion UConn Huskies, who are expected to contend for another national championship this season despite losing star guard Paige Bueckers to the WNBA.
UConn's title chances likely hinge on the success of graduate guard Azzi Fudd and sophomore forward Sarah Strong, as Geno Auriemma's team will rely on these two for much of its offensive production.
Both Fudd and Strong are expected to earn a lot of accolades this season. However, this didn't start well for one of them.
Azzi Fudd Not Named to AP Preseason All-America Team
The AP Preseason All-America Team for the 2025-26 NCAA women's basketball season was released on October 21. And the five honorees were Sarah Strong, Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, Lauren Betts of UCLA, Madison Booker of Texas, and Ta'Niya Latson of South Carolina.
Hot off the presses: the @AP preseason all-America team. https://t.co/Dk7KamYPHM
— Doug Feinberg (@DougFeinberg) October 21, 2025
While all of these players are more than deserving of this recognition, conspicuous by her absence is Azzi Fudd, who some believe is the best guard in the country right now.
UConn women's basketball reporter Maggie Vanoni made an X post that read, "Graduate guard Azzi Fudd was the top other vote getter with 11 votes," which shows that Fudd was the odd woman out when it came to these All-American rankings.
News: UConn women’s basketball sophomore Sarah Strong is a preseason AP All-American
— Maggie Vanoni (@maggie_vanoni) October 21, 2025
She joins Hannah Hidalgo, Lauren Betts, Madison Booker and Ta'Niya Latson on the All-American Team
Graduate guard Azzi Fudd was the top other vote getter with 11 votes
Ultimately, these rankings don't mean anything other than that these players are expected to have great seasons, as they aren't based on any objective statistics like the actual All-American teams are at the end of the year.
Still, one could imagine Fudd having a chip on her shoulder entering her final college season as a result of not making the AP Preseason All-American team.
Recommended Reading:
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.
Follow GrvntYoung