UConn's Azzi Fudd returned after missing a year with right knee injury
UConn guard Azzi Fudd, left and assistant coach Jamelle Elliott, right, help UConn guard Paige Bueckers up off the floor in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Fairleigh Dickinson, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Storrs, Conn. Credit: AP/Jessica Hill
STORRS, Conn. — UConn guard Azzi Fudd had hoped to come back Wednesday night. The fact it was on a record-breaking night for her coach was an added bonus.
Fudd returned to the Huskies' lineup in the No. 2 Huskies' 85-41 win over Fairleigh Dickinson that gave coach Geno Auriemma the NCAA all-time wins record that he had shared with retired Stanford women’s coach Tara VanDerveer. Auriemma now stands alone with 1,217 victories in his 40-year career at the school.
Fudd suffered a right knee injury in practice on Nov. 14, 2023, after playing two games last season. She's been practicing with the team and warmed up before UConn's game against North Carolina last Friday night. Fudd told Auriemma the other day that she was ready to play against FDU.
She checked in with 3:39 left in the first quarter and received a loud ovation from the crowd. She missed her first shot, a 3 from the corner, before getting fouled on a drive on the Huskies' next possession. The redshirt junior made both free throws.
“I just had so much nervous excitement,” Fudd said of the moment. “I was talking to Paige (Bueckers) before the game about how I just wanted to play."
Fudd, who has two seasons of eligibility left if she wants it, finished with four points in 12 minutes. She hit her lone basket on a layup just before the end of the third quarter.
“Azzi has waited a long time obviously," coach Geno Auriemma said. "Since her junior year in high school, she’s missed more basketball than she’s played. I know how hard she’s worked and what it’s meant to her to come back. It’s going to be slow going at the beginning. She changes our team, makes us better.”
UConn guard Azzi Fudd, center, checks in for the first time with teammates UConn center Jana El Alfy, left, and UConn guard KK Arnold, right, in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Fairleigh Dickinson, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, in Storrs, Conn. Credit: AP/Jessica Hill
It wasn't Fudd’s first season-ending injury in Storrs after missing 22 games her sophomore year in 2022-23 because of a separate knee injury and 11 games as a freshman in 2021-22 because of a foot injury.
Fudd had averaged 13.1 points and 2.4 rebounds at UConn coming into Wednesday night's game.
“I was just grateful to be out there again," Fudd said. "I’m just so happy to be playing with my teammates again.”