Azzi Fudd Undecided on Declaring for 2025 WNBA Draft or Returning to UConn

UConn guard Azzi Fudd says she has not yet decided whether to return for a fifth college season or declare for the upcoming WNBA draft.

"I think I have to sit down and talk with my family, with the people closest to me, and just talk through the decisions, options," Fudd said Saturday, per ESPN's Alexa Philippou.

Fudd continued: "I'm a big pros and cons list-er to kind of get the emotions out, the feelings out, and just write down the facts. So I think a pros and cons list is in my near future."

Head coach Geno Auriemma said Fudd will need her make her decision soon after the Big East women's basketball tournament, which takes place from March 7-10.

“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],” Auriemma said, per Daniel Connolly of UConn WBB Weekly. “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.”

The NCAA transfer portal opens March 25, just after the second round of the NCAA Tournament wraps up. Who UConn targets in the portal this offseason could change based on Fudd's decision.

The Huskies hope to still be playing in mid-March. UConn has been led to a 27-3 record, including a clean 17-0 slate in the Big East, by a starting lineup highlighted by Fudd, Sarah Strong and Paige Bueckers.

Fudd and Bueckers, alongside Aubrey Griffin and Kaitlyn Chen, will be honored when the Huskies celebrate the team's seniors during Sunday's regular-season home finale against Marquette.

Fudd wanted to participate "in case this does turn out to be her final season in Storrs," Philippou wrote.

When asked if he knew which way Fudd was leaning, Auriemma said: "Part of me is planning for Azzi to be back and there’s a part of me that's planning for her to go."

"You just don't know what's going to happen," Auriemma said, per Connolly.

Fudd missed almost the entirety of her junior season after suffering ACL and meniscus injuries in her right knee in November 2023.

She returned this season to resume her role as the Huskies' most reliable 3-point shooter, making 45.9 percent of her shots from behind the arc while putting up 12.8 points per game.

Fudd's shooting is one aspect of her game expected to make her an eventual first-round pick when she declares for the draft. She could theoretically raise her stock with a fourth healthy season, however, while the departure of Bueckers could set her up for an even larger role as a primary ball-handler in 2025-26.

If Fudd decides to enter the draft this spring she will likely go behind Bueckers, the projected No. 1 pick ahead of the 2025 draft on April 14.