Fudd’s parents reflect on freshman season

For Katie Fudd, it finally sunk in when she saw her daughter Azzi run out of the players’ tunnel ahead of the UConn women’s basketball team’s season-opening game against Arkansas in November.

This is what Azzi had always wanted.

Katie and her husband Tim have poured themselves into supporting their daughter’s basketball career. They coached her and stood by her side when she tore her ACL her sophomore year in high school, and again when the COVID-19 pandemic robbed her of portions of both her junior and senior seasons.

The 5-foot-11 guard went through all that and more for the chance to play at UConn. And here she was, doing so in her first college game.

“We were watching in I don’t know what grade, watching them (UConn) practice and kinda trying to help her figure out where she belonged and what would be a good fit and that was such a long process and journey that that was kinda my, ‘Wow. She’s here. Wow. This is happening,’ ” Katie told Hearst Connecticut Media over the phone Tuesday.

Katie and Tim have been with Azzi through it all, including her freshman season at UConn. Though it was a year filled with injury and adversity while managing the growth of Azzi’s brand, the parents are most proud of their daughter’s commitment to stay true to herself in everything she did.

“It’s everything that she’s worked for, and we’re the backbone of her support system,” Tim said.

Tim and Katie went to 34 of UConn women’s basketball’s 36 games last season. The only two they missed were the Huskies’ games at Georgia Tech and Butler.

They traveled all the way across the country to Oregon in January and to Minnesota for the Final Four in April. They spent time becoming friends with the other parents, standing and cheering not only for Azzi but for her teammates.

The two even created fan-like superstitions. Katie always wore the same outfit to every game: a UConn hoodie and T-shirt and a pair of sweats. She washed the set

Jessica Hill / Associated Press UConn’s Azzi Fudd during a game against Tennessee on Feb. 6. Fudd’s parents helped her navigate her freshman season, which included injuries, adversity and a Final Four appearance.