UConn's Paige Bueckers made highlight tape of her own passes to recruit Azzi Fudd to Huskies
Back in November 2020, Azzi Fudd was the No. 1-ranked prospect in the country and had offers from numerous major programs. She eventually chose UConn for a number of reasons, not least of which was the opportunity to play with her good friend, Paige Bueckers.
As it turns out, Bueckers wasn't just hoping Fudd would decide to come to Storrs. Rather, Bueckers was actively recruiting Fudd with a unique method: a highlight tape of her own passes. Fudd detailed the start of their friendship and the successful recruiting pitch in a GQ story about Bueckers published Tuesday:
"She can get a bucket literally whenever she wants," says Fudd, who entered UConn the year after Bueckers, "but she always wants to make sure everyone's involved and we're playing team basketball." Fudd and Bueckers first met when they were both trying out for point guard on the USA Basketball U16 team. "I was like, Okay, I don't have anything to worry about. This little white girl? I'll make the team over her," Fudd says. They both ended up making the team, but, Fudd says, "She was a lot better than I thought she was."
They've been best friends ever since. "This is so on brand for Paige, but she made a little highlight video of herself from her high school games, passing to her teammates and giving them wide-open shots," Fudd says. "She presented it to my family and was like, 'You see all these open shots I'm giving to my teammates? That's going to be Azzi [if] she comes to UConn and plays with me.' "
The video is actually still up on Bueckers' Hudl page, and it gives an early look at the playmaking skills that have made her one of the most versatile players in the country.
Due to extensive injury problems for both of them -- most notably, Bueckers missed the entire 2022-23 season with a torn ACL, while Fudd missed all but two games of the 2023-24 season with her own ACL tear -- the duo had only played 17 games together coming into this season.
Even with some more minor injuries for both, they've already surpassed that total this season (21 games together) and the results have been terrific. The No. 5-ranked Huskies are 26-3, and those three defeats, which came by a combined 17 points, were all against top-20 teams.
Earlier this month, they went to South Carolina and destroyed the reigning champion Gamecocks by 29 points to cement their status as a true title contender. Fudd went off for 28 points in that win, while Bueckers dished out 10 assists, four of which went to Fudd.
Finally, the backcourt partnership Bueckers envisioned all those years ago when she was putting her audiovisual skills to work has become a reality.
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