The UConn women’s basketball team took home its 12th national title of the NCAA championship in Sunday’s 82-59 victory over the defending champs, the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Guard Azzi Fudd, of Arlington, Virginia, led the team to victory and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four after scoring 24 points in Sunday’s game.
Her spectacular performance, however, came as no surprise to St. John’s College High School girl’s basketball head coach Jonathan Scribner, who led Fudd through her championship-winning high school career in D.C.
“The first time I saw her play, she was in fifth grade,” Scribner said. “She was playing in an eighth grade all-star game, and was the MVP of the all-star game in fifth grade … it doesn’t take a basketball savant to have seen what the future held for her.”
Her sophomore year at St. John’s, Fudd was named the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year.
But, despite her stellar record, Fudd’s road to champion status was one filled with injury, heartbreak and ultimately overcoming odds.
Though she remained healthy through the 2024-25 season, Fudd was forced to watch from the sidelines a year earlier when UConn was eliminated from the Final Four by Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes due to a torn meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee.
She also missed 11 games her freshman year at UConn due to a foot injury.
Fudd’s first significant injury, though, came during the USA Basketball U18 3-on-3 nationals tournament in 2019, when she tore her ACL and MCL — something Scribner got to watch her come back from.
“She got back on the court very quickly … The moment she checked into the game for the first time … We were playing at home, and she came off the bench, and when she checked in the crowd went crazy, and she was on the floor again, being Azzi Fudd,” Scribner said.
“That was a real special moment.”
Scribner said watching Fudd play in Tampa, Florida, on Sunday night brought him right back to those days.
“To be honest, watching her last night was watching the player that we watched in high school,” Scribner said. “It all came out last night … that’s Azzi Fudd, you know, she’s not just a stand and shoot player. She is the full package.”
Scribner said Fudd’s family has played a huge role in her success. Her mother, Katie Fudd, played college hoops at NC State and Georgetown while her father, Tim Fudd, played for American.
“It’s not just basketball for her and her family,” Scribner said. “It’s bigger than that.”
Fudd said she plans to return to the Huskies in 2025-26 for her final season of eligibility.
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