Azzi Fudd undecided on future; Caroline Ducharme plans to return next season

Azzi Fudd is set to participate in UConn’s senior day festivities on Sunday but said on Saturday that has yet to make a decision about her future. She has one remaining year of eligibility if she wants to return to the Huskies but can also declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft.

“I've been really focusing on trying to stay present this year and trying to just give this year all I've got,” Fudd explained. “I didn't want me worrying about what I'm gonna do play into my mindset now. So I was like, ‘Well, I'd rather have a senior night just in case.’”

If Geno Auriemma has a sense of which way she might be leaning, he played coy.

“Part of me is planning for Azzi to be back and there’s a part of me that's planning for her to go,” he said. “You just don't know what's going to happen.”

Technically, Fudd doesn’t have to decide on whether to declare for the draft until 48 hours after UConn’s final game. But with the transfer portal opening on March 25 — the week after the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament — the team needs to know her plans after the Big East Tournament so they can begin building the roster for next season.

“The guys that are in her situation, there's going to come a time when we absolutely positively have to know. It can't go to 48 hours [after the season],” Geno Auriemma said. “They all know that after the Big East Tournament, that's when we really gotta sit down and start finding out what your thoughts are.”

Most mock drafts project Fudd to be a first round pick, though her extensive injury history could prevent her from towards near the top. Since arriving in Storrs back in 2021, she’s played in 66 of 142 possible games and while Fudd has been spectacular in short bursts, she hasn’t produced on a consistent basis. Another fully healthy season could help boost her stock.

Yet Auriemma doesn’t expect Fudd’s decision to be tied to be strictly basketball related.

“I just think [the deciding factor is]: Do you like school or not? … I don't even think it's about, ‘Am I ready to go? Am I not ready to go? Am I going to get drafted here? Am I going to get drafted there?’ Are you finished with this lifestyle? Are you done? Or do you still enjoy going to school, hanging out in this environment and playing, doing all this,” Auriemma said. “I usually find that's what it comes down to.”

In that sense, Fudd still enjoys being a college basketball player.

“When you're playing in the basketball capital of the world, there's so much to look forward to — so much every single day, whether it's in practice, games,” she said. “You’ve got the best fans coming to watch, the best coaches, the best teammates. So it's still a lot of fun.”

Even with that, Fudd still has to go through the decision-making process. Until that happens, she can’t say anything for certain.

“I have to sit down and talk with my family, with people closest to me, and just talk through the decisions, the options,” Fudd explained. “I'm a big pros and cons lister to get the emotions out, the feelings out, and just write down the facts. So think of pro and cons list is in my near future.”

There’s no lingering uncertainty with Caroline Ducharme, though. She won’t participate in senior day and revealed on Saturday that she expects to return for UConn’s 2025-26 campaign.

“That’s the plan,” she said.

Paige Bueckers, Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin will also take part in the senior day ceremonies. Chen and Griffin have both exhausted their eligibility while Bueckers has stated multiple times that this will be her final season with the Huskies.

Injury updates

After missing the last seven games with a shoulder injury, Ice Brady could make her return on Sunday vs. Marquette.

“She went through a little more today than she did any other time since,” Auriemma said. “So we'll go through shoot-around tomorrow and if she still feels pretty good, we'll give it a shot. If not, then it'll have to be next weekend.”

Brady’s redshirt sophomore campaign has been up and down to this point. Despite some strong performances — she put in a spectacular defensive effort against Iowa State star Audi Crooks — she’s struggled to make a consistent impact. Brady appears to have benefitted from the time off over the last month, though.

“Ice is a different person today than she was before she hurt her shoulder,” Auriemma said. “When she was freshmen and she dislocated her knee, she had no idea what she was missing. Zero. Now after playing and having the success that she had last year at the [Big East] Tournament and how much she helped us in the NCAA Tournament, now all of a sudden it goes away and she's devastated. She spent the entire time really, really, really working her brains out. So then when she came back, this is the best she's looked since she's been at Connecticut.”

As for Morgan Cheli, Auriemma revealed the cause of the freshman’s season-ending surgery. Roughly a month ago, she tweaked her ankle but didn’t think anything of it and continued on as if nothing happened.

“[Cheli] never, ever complained about it one time — ever,” Auriemma said.

Then after UConn’s win at Providence on Feb. 9, the freshman felt a new pain and finally told the team. She underwent an MRI that revealed a crack in her ankle bone, which required surgery on Feb. 19 to fix.

“It's unfortunate. It really is,” Auriemma said. “But it's fixed, and she'll come back 100 percent.”

Another Husky in the WNBA

In January, former UConn guard Anna Makurat signed a rookie deal with the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury. Unlike most Huskies who head to the league, Makurat’s time in Storrs is little more than a footnote on her resume. Instead, she’s made a name for herself while as a professional in Europe over the last four years.

Makurat arrived at UConn in the fall of 2019 — ironically alongside Aubrey Griffin, who’s still with the team and set to be honored on senior day — but departed after just two seasons to be closer to her native Poland.

Even after all that time, Auriemma isn’t surprised to see her get a shot in the WNBA.

“Some of these kids, they're lifers, you know? They just can't get away from the game. Anna was one of them and I think that's a big reason why she had to leave and go back to Europe. Because for some kids, it's easier to make the adjustment here and other kids, it's not,” Auriemma said. “I hope something comes out of it.”

The Mercury could certainly use another scoring guard after Diana Taurasi announced her retirement last week, after all.

“Maybe she's replacing Dee,” Auriemma quipped.