Copyright Hartford Courant
NEW YORK — Azzi Fudd looks over at Sarah Strong, her younger teammate at UConn, and sees a transformation. From a reticent freshman, Strong is more assertive around the Huskies as her sophomore season begins. “The way she walks on the floor,” Fudd said, “you can just tell she’s owning her space, and I Iove it.” Fudd can relate. After four years at UConn, filled with devastating lows and the most exhilarating of highs, Azzi Fudd can relate to almost anything; she has experienced nearly all of it. So when did she start to feel she was “owning her space?” Dom Amore: For UConn women, this is what Sarah Strong 2.0 looks like “Oooohhhh, that’s a good question,” Fudd said, surrounded by reporters at her last Big East Media Day. “I would say I had that moment sophomore year, and then I got hurt again, and then I came back and got hurt again, and I didn’t feel like I owned my space any more. And then last year, meh. Now this year, I feel like I’m owning my space. It gets me excited for what this year has to hold. Being the healthiest I’ve been, I can’t wait.” There are many terms for that unfettered feeling, depending on your generation. Some might call it being “comfortable in your own skin.” Others may call it “being where your feet are.” Geno Auriemma visualizes it as pushing all your chips into the center of the table, no hesitation, rather then hedging your bet, putting in a little at a time. “Azzi is being less about ‘what if?’ or less critical of herself,” Auriemma said, “and more attacking in the moment, like pushing the chips in and let’s see what happens. As opposed to, ‘I know I have a good hand, but …’ and being reluctant. “If you remember the Southern Cal game, that’s how it was. Very reluctant to exert. Then in the Final Four, it wasn’t there, that’s when that light went on.” In case you’ve forgotten, Fudd went ice cold in the Elite Eight game last March, scoreless for three quarters, 0 for 9 from the floor. Then she hit a big 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter, scored eight critical points down the stretch as the Huskies held off USC and went to the Final Four. There she scored 19 against UCLA in the semifinal and 24 against South Carolina in the championship game, shooting 55 percent under the sports brightest lights. Tampa in April, Fudd made it her moment, her space. UConn’s 12th national championship, first since 2016, lifted a lot of self doubts. Paige Bueckers finally fulfilled what was believed to be her destiny at UConn and moved on to the WNBA. Fudd, who earned her graduate degree two years ago and is going for an MBA, returned for a fifth year. Nothing to prove, perhaps, but something to experience in full measure as face of the program. Dom Amore: Never a hint of panic, Joe Fagnano guides UConn football with extraordinary performance “I haven’t even been playing basketball for a full year yet,” she said. “At this point last year I might’ve just started doing full practices (after her knee surgery). It gets me so excited because I think this is the healthiest I’ve been since I’ve been at UConn. I’m excited just to see what a healthy season looks like for me, a healthy preseason, healthy summer, going in feeling confident mentally as well as physically.” This is what Fudd, 5 feet 11 with that marvelous jump shot and so much else to her game, wants to show the basketball world, and see for herself: What she can do now that she owns her space. And these last six months represent her last chance to do it, her last dance at UConn. “After seeing a lot of my teammates, whether it was their fourth year, or they came back for a fifth year, getting to see how they handled it I feel like I’ve had a lot of incredible people to look up to in that sense,” Fudd said. “I’m just trying to embrace everything. Coach says it. I remember hearing that as freshman, being, ‘oh, my gosh, he’s so dramatic,’ telling our seniors how they’re going to miss the hard practices, hanging out in the dorms with everyone, pregame walks, pregame meals, because when you go to the league, it’s a business, it’s not the same, ‘you’re not in this bubble any more.’ …I was like, ‘What is he talking about?’ But as I’ve gotten older, we really are lucky, blessed to be in this little bubble, in this environment with coaches that want the best for you, teammates you feel like you’re family with.” Since that coming of age and crowning achievement at the Final Four, says she “feels like I’ve lived five different lives.” Always growing, learning, no longer afraid to fail or asking “what if?” The young college player who seemed so worried about saying the wrong thing in a press conference now has her own podcast, her catch phrase, “Fudd Around And Find Out” serving as the title. “Each episode I feel more comfortable myself, more comfortable asking questions, getting out of my comfort zone to ask questions and be more outgoing has been a bit of a process,” she said. When she goes into the WNBA next season, this is the Fudd the pros will find out about, willing to push all her chips into the pot, whenever the bet is on herself. Every step she takes will be her last something at UConn, her last Media Day, last opening game, last Big East Tournament, and she is poised to own all of it and, with UConn ranked No.1 in the preseason poll, it would be no surprise if there is space for another trophy at the end. “I’m just going to enjoy this last year with my teammates,” Fudd said, “enjoy the good, the bad, the ugly, the hard practices, being able to go back to the apartments and talk about it. Just stay present and enjoy every single thing. I’ve got to take full advantage of this.”
