Heading into the 2025-26 college basketball season, the UConn Huskies are in an interesting spot. They won a national championship this past season, but they will not have their best player, Paige Bueckers, back. Bueckers started her career in the WNBA following the championship.
As a result, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong will be expected to step more into starring roles, both as players and in leadership roles. On July 4, UConn insider Chelsea Sherrod appeared on the Big East Energy Network to discuss the Huskies into next season. She spoke about whether Azzi Fudd or Sarah Strong is going to be the leader of the team next season.
“It is 100% Azzi Fudd because Azzi is moreso the veteran,” Chelsea Sherrod said (Timestamp 2:55). “Obviously, Sarah is incredible and she’s gonna have a monster year and she’s just going to continue to get better, but this is going to be Azzi’s team because she’s been around. She’s been with Geno the longest. She has the most experience, even though she hasn’t played a lot, relatively, but I think just because of her seniority, she will take on more of a leadership role.
“For the majority of the time I spent with Azzi, first year she wasn’t playing, she was out. Last year she was out for some periods. She was kind of in and out. For Azzi, she hasn’t necessarily always been super vocal. That’s not necessarily how she leads. She more so leads by example. She leads by showing you. I do think this year we’ll see more of her being outwardly vocal.”
UConn’s Azzi Fudd Has Been Significantly Impacted By Injuries in Recent Years
This past season was the first time in her four-year college career that she was not impacted by injuries. As a freshman, she missed 11 games because of a foot injury. Then, as a sophomore, she suffered a right knee injury and missed eight games. She then returned by reinjured it and only appeared in 15 games. As a junior, Fudd only appeared in two games because she tore her right ACL.
This past season, after missing the first few games of the season, Fudd returned to the lineup from her ACL injury and finally had a healthy year. She will now be looking to take that momentum into her fifth year with the Huskies.
Despite the injuries, it makes sense that Fudd emerges as a leader over Sarah Strong, considering Strong is only entering her sophomore year.
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