UConn Huskies women's basketball head coach Geno Auriemma guided his team to the 12th national championship of his career. This year's team was led by a trio of stars in Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, and Sarah Strong. All three stars dominated in the national championship game, but Fudd and Strong led the way. With Bueckers now playing in the WNBA with the Dallas Wings, fans wonder how UConn will look next season. Auriemma, for one, is not worried about the future of his team.

Auriemma is used to stars coming into and out of his program. From Diana Taurasi to Breanna Stewart to Bueckers, he has attracted stars to UConn for decades. UConn attracted Bueckers, who then helped persuade Fudd and Strong to join her. After losing a season to injury, Bueckers returned with her sights set on a national title in her senior year.

Even though the team is in the middle of the offseason, Auriemma is excited with what the Huskies could be next year. He said as much to reporters during his golf tournament on Monday, shouting out Fudd and Strong.

“I gotta tell ya, I've never seen Azzi this aggressive, this engaged in wanting to do a lot,” Auriemma said about his star guard. “That's probably stood out more than anything. Remember the way Sarah was in that last game, she's way better. So those two things really stood out these last two weeks.”

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How the Huskies play this season will say a lot about how they can adjust to life without Bueckers. The Wings rookie was at UConn from 2020 to 2025, leaving her mark on that era of the program by leading the Huskies to a championship as a senior. For Fudd and Strong, the pressure is on them to show that the Huskies can still dominate without her.

Auriemma is confident that his stars will be ready once the season tips off. They need to be if they want to win another national championship. With Olivia Miles transferring to TCU earlier this year and Ta'Niya Latson joining Dawn Staley at South Carolina, the rest of the country is ready to take UConn down.

This is not the first time that Auriemma's team faced a challenge, though. The Huskies are one of the best women's basketball programs in the country and are out to prove that they are just as dangerous as ever. With Fudd and Strong leading the way, Auriemma believes that his team will be more than ready when their season begins in the fall.