2021 No. 1 Women's College Basketball Recruit Azzi Fudd Commits to UConn
The rich got richer Wednesday.
Azzi Fudd committed to Connecticut. The 5'11" guard is the No. 1 player in HoopGurlz's 2021 rankings.
As if that wasn't enough, the Huskies also added 5'10" guard Caroline Ducharme, who sits fifth in the 2021 class.
Katie Barnes of espnW.com wrote Fudd received her first scholarship offer when she was only 12. She averaged 19.2 points and 3.5 rebounds as a junior at St. John's College after recovering from a torn ACL and MCL.
Fudd has already represented Team USA at the international level, winning gold medals in the 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.
Speaking with Barnes, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry offered high praise of the Washington, D.C., native.
"She can be going full speed, and stop on a dime and have, like, a feathery release," Curry said. "I think she has more of a textbook jumper than anyone I've seen. Maybe Klay Thompson and Azzi Fudd. ... You go Ray Allen, Klay Thompson, and Azzi Fudd, textbook. You would teach somebody how to shoot with their form."
While Connecticut is a perennial national title contender, the Huskies no longer claim the kind of dominion they enjoyed over women's college basketball in years past.
Between 1999-2016, they claimed 10 national championships. Their last title came in 2016, which was Breanna Stewart's final season. Since then, the rest of the field has been catching up to UConn a bit, an inevitable development as the women's game grew.
The rise of Oregon and South Carolina is a prime example of how the landscape is changing.
The Gamecocks had one Elite Eight appearance in their history before Dawn Staley arrived in 2008. The Ducks hadn't advanced beyond the Sweet 16 before hiring Kelly Graves in 2014. South Carolina reached the Final Four in 2015 and won a title in 2017. Oregon advanced to the Final Four for the first time in 2019.
Still, UConn isn't going anywhere. This is the second straight year the Huskies landed the No. 1 prep star after Paige Bueckers signed in 2020.
Going four years without a championship qualifies as a drought in Storrs. Fans may not have to wait much longer for the program's 12th triumph.
