Azzi Fudd made a national name for herself while playing for the UConn women's basketball team. But the highlight of the Huskies' 83-42 demolition of Georgetown on Thursday was that Fudd got to return to the area where she grew up and where her career began.
Fudd admitted after the game that she had already been going down memory lane even before the last hometown game of her collegiate career was approaching.
“I was actually watching one of my old high school games over break, and the team we were playing against, it was like five D-I players,” Fudd said. “To look at that and to see just, like, that's who you're competing against. … That's not something a lot of players get to experience in high school.”
Fudd grew up in Arlington, Virginia, and her mother played college basketball at Georgetown, adding another personal touch to the matchup. Her parents and three of her grandparents were in attendance and cheering her on from the crowd with her trademark “Fudd Around and Find Out” t-shirts on, and Fudd went on to explain just how much the support impacted her.
“They don't come to too many games, don't travel as much,” Fudd said of her grandparents. “I think this was my grandma's second in-person game with me actually playing. So definitely very grateful and I feel very loved today.”
After Fudd put up a 19-point, six-rebound, five-assist, and two-steal performance against Georgetown, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma shared his evaluation of her final homecoming outing.
“She's actually not shot the ball the way she's normally shot it over the course of the time that she's played at UConn. When she was younger, I think it would get to her, and she would put a lot of pressure on herself,” Auriemma said.
“I don't think her going 3-for-12 from the 3-point line today made her happy. But she was happy that she was able to have a tremendous game otherwise. And I think maybe in past years, she would have struggled a lot more with that. So she's got a much broader view now.”
Auriemma continued to detail how much he's seen Fudd grow in her time at UConn as she prepares to close out her senior season and await the WNBA Draft.
“I get a lot of satisfaction when you see a player, even freshman year, whenever it was, and everybody starts telling you how much potential this kid has, what a great player she is. And sometimes that puts a lot of pressure on someone to have to try to live up to those things. And it can go sideways, and it gets to them,” Auriemma said. “She's managed to handle it all exceptionally well.”
