Mike Anthony: Azzi Fudd follows Paige Bueckers to UConn, becoming the latest No. 1 player in the nation to join Geno Auriemma’s program

Back in November 2018, the sky was falling on the UConn women’s basketball program. The national conversation was getting ridiculous.

The Huskies, almost robotic in the way they had won on and off the court for so long, were suddenly labeled as particularly vulnerable. Months removed from a crushing Final Four loss to Notre Dame, their rotation was thin and their recruiting class, by previous standards, was thinner.

When Haley Jones, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2019, chose Stanford over UConn, coach Geno Auriemma spoke sarcastically about his program’s demise and then, in the most matter of fact way, issued a reminder that the Huskies don’t always land the very best high school players in America.

“This is one of those years where we didn’t,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean next year we won’t.”

Or the year after that.

Paige Bueckers, No. 1 in the Class of 2020, committed to UConn in April 2019.

Azzi Fudd, No. 1 in the Class of 2021, committed to UConn Wednesday.

Boom. Pow. The Huskies have punched their way out of a box that never really existed. They have shot down the hopeful suspicion of that vulnerability.

Bueckers and Fudd are the closest of friends and the very best players in high school basketball going on three years now. They are beyond that, even. They are two of the most celebrated, accomplished and visible high school players in history.

Fudd was Gatorade national player of the year in 2019, the first player to win the award as a sophomore. Bueckers was Gatorade national player of the year as a senior in 2020. They have teamed up over the years with USA Basketball. They visited UConn’s campus together last year. They’ll spend three years together in Storrs, where even the slightest basketball heart murmur becomes cause for a magnified exploration of something gone awfully awry.

The basketball world surely understands by now that nothing has changed.

If Bueckers, as another false narrative goes, has entered the picture as the savior of a dynasty, what will Fudd’s arrival next summer do for UConn?

Well, it will almost certainly create more gravity that pulls the Huskies further into a world of their own creation, one where anything less than an undefeated national championship season would probably be viewed as another hiccup. People will keep looking for cracks in this operation. Perfect on all fronts, or it’s starting to come apart.

As Auriemma said last winter, recalling something he told Bueckers, “You know how many religions there are in the world? A ton. There’s one religion in college women’s basketball: pray that UConn sucks.”

Fudd announced her decision on the first day of the early national signing period, her 18th birthday, a few months after Bueckers. Does this guarantee a 12th national title and beyond? No. There are other programs putting together classes to be equally proud of. But days like Wednesday, and a look at a roster well positioned for years to come, are reminders of what was, what is and what can be.

Auriemma is right. His program doesn’t always get the best player in the nation. It does quite often, though.

The Huskies have now landed five of the past seven consensus No. 1 national recruits: Katie Lou Samuelson (2015), Megan Walker (2017), Christyn Williams (2018), Bueckers (2020) and Fudd (2021). Many more preceded them.

If top-rated Lauren Betts or any of the rest near the top of the Class of 2022 prospect rankings, according to espn.com, commit to schools other than UConn, or if the Huskies' season ends a victory or two shy of a national title, will we start to hear those it’s over whispers? Probably.

It’s not over, folks.

One thing at a time, though.

Fudd is a stud. Sorry. Too easy. She’s a 5-foot-11 do-everything guard from Arlington, Va., who averaged 26.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.9 blocks as a sophomore at St. John’s College High in Washington D.C. She has been compared to Maya Moore.

She tore her right ACL and MCL in a USA Basketball event in April 2019 and missed half of her junior year while recovering. Still, like Bueckers, Fudd has drawn the attention of the basketball world, from WNBA players and NBA players to little girls and boys to every coach of a major program. Her first scholarship offer came from Maryland — when she was in sixth grade.

UConn’s backcourt should be a blinding blitz of basketball beauty for years to come. Fudd is more of a scoring guard, with every skill to convert in the half court and transition, from inside, from outside. Bueckers passes like she has eyes on the side of her head. She’ll have Williams, set for a breakthrough junior season, and others to dish to for the next two years, and Fudd starting in 2021-22.

Bueckers already gets one Fudd-related assist. She recruited her. Relentlessly. From the moment she announced her own commitment, Bueckers all but begged Fudd to do the same. She did it privately, publicly, using social media platforms through which both players have gained great exposure.

Fudd is named after one of the game’s greats, Jennifer Azzi. She has a dog named Stewie, for Breanna Stewart. Now she has a teammate named Paige, a coach named Geno and a school called UConn.

No, the Huskies don’t land the best player in the nation every year.

They did last year, though.

They did this year, again.

And when they don’t, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything has really changed the course or capability of the program.

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