After Final Four revelation, is Azzi Fudd ready to take over?

As the confetti settled and the celebration began on the court at Amalie Arena in the wake of UConn’s 12th national championship victory, an emotional Tim Fudd summed up his daughter’s Final Four Most Outstanding Player-worthy performance perfectly.

“That was vintage Azzi,” he said. “That’s who she was before the injury.”

It took a long time to get to that point. Through most of her first four seasons with the Huskies, Fudd couldn’t shake a devastating combination of bad luck and injuries — a foot injury, a stomach bug the night before the national championship, two knee injuries, a torn ACL, then a knee sprain after returning.

Even when Fudd finally started to string games together this past season, inconsistency plagued her. She started to find her groove with 20+ points in back-to-back contests in January but had a miserable night in the loss to Tennessee. She responded with a 17-point explosion in the third quarter against St. John’s, followed it up with a 34-point outburst at Providence then poured on 28 points in the stunning win at South Carolina.

Then Fudd failed to put up double-digits in two of her next three games.

In the NCAA Tournament, she dominated the first two rounds but couldn’t find her shot in Spokane, averaging just 9.0 points while shooting 7/28 percent from the field at the regionals. Despite that, Auriemma drew up an elevator screen to spring her for an open three to start the fourth quarter against USC. As much as UConn needed the basket, the hope was that it would spark her for the Final Four.

It worked. Fudd owned UCLA with 19 points in the national semifinal before putting together arguably the best all-around performance of her career in the title game against South Carolina. She finished with 24 points while playing with an aggressive demeanor — as if she were the best player on the court.

Vintage Azzi, indeed — and the version of her UConn needs this upcoming season. With Paige Bueckers off to the WNBA, the Huskies are in search of a new go-to player. Fudd and Sarah Strong are the obvious candidates — and the ones Auriemma expects to step up.

For Fudd, that’ll require a step outside her comfort zone.

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