Azzi Fudd will return to the court this season.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Friday ahead of the Big East tournament that Fudd was a partial participant in practice on Thursday, and she intends to play again this season for the Huskies. Fudd hasn’t played since mid-January and has dealt with a knee injury for much of the season.
“She started looking like her old self,” Auriemma said, via the Hartford Courant’s Lila Bromberg.
Fudd first injured her knee after colliding with a teammate in December. She missed eight games, but then returned in January briefly before re-injuring her knee in the Huskies’ game against Georgetown in what was her second game back. Fudd hasn’t played since.
The sophomore averaged a career-high 17.9 points and 2.2 assists in nine games at UConn this season. Her injury was one of several major ones the Huskies have dealt with this season. Star Paige Bueckers tore her ACL and forward Ice Brady dislocated her patella tendon, both of which knocked them out for the season.
Despite the injuries, UConn finished the season with a 26-5 record and claimed the Big East regular season title. The Huskies will kick off the conference tournament on Saturday against Georgetown, which beat Butler in the first round on Friday at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut.
It’s unknown if Fudd will be able to join UConn at the Big East tournament, or if she’ll have to wait until the NCAA tournament to make her return.
“There’s more that she’s capable of doing and there’s more that she keeps pushing herself to get better … We’ll see what happens in practice today,” Auriemma said, via UCTV.
