UConn basketball has had no shortage of injuries over the last three seasons.

Azzi Fudd’s season-ending knee injury represents just the latest blow to the Huskies’ lineup. The junior guard tore the ACL and meniscus in her right knee during practice on Nov. 14. And she’s not the only one sidelined for UConn, with Jana El Alfy having torn her Achilles tendon in July and Ayanna Patterson still out after an offseason knee surgery.

WNBA star Diamond DeShields asked on social media after Fudd’s injury: “Who the strength coach there …? Cuz WTF.” But Fudd’s father came to the defense of the program, noting that the injuries have “nothing to do with the strength coach” and are instead “the flukiest things I’ve ever seen.”

Just Women’s Sports lays out a timeline of the most significant injuries to UConn women’s basketball over the last three seasons.

2021-22 season:

Aubrey Griffin missed the entire season with a back injury, for which she underwent surgery in January 2022.

On Dec. 1, Fudd suffered a foot injury forced her out of the lineup for 11 games. It was the first major injury of Fudd’s career at UConn, though she had torn the ACL and MCL in her right knee in high school. And just four days later, UConn star Paige Bueckers suffered a tibial plateau fracture that kept her out of 19 games for the Huskies.

While the team remained relatively healthy through January and February. But come the postseason, Dorka Juhász fractured her wrist in the Elite Eight, which kept her out of the Final Four. UConn made the national championship game but lost to South Carolina.

2022-23 season:

UConn’s injury problems during the 2022-23 season can be summed up with one incident: The Huskies had to postpone their game against DePaul in early January due to a lack of healthy players.

It all started in August, when Bueckers tore her ACL, which caused her to miss the entirety of the season. Then, in October, freshman Ice Brady dislocated her patella tendon, which ended her season before it started.

Mere months after fracturing her wrist, Juhász suffered a broken thumb on Nov. 19, which kept her out of seven games. Then, on Dec. 4, Fudd suffered a knee injury that initially kept her out of nine games. She made her return in January, only to reinjure the same knee on Jan. 15 and miss an additional 13 games.

Meanwhile, Caroline Ducharme missed 14 games due to a concussion suffered on Jan. 3. Given that the team struggled with injuries all season, UConn never could find a groove and bowed out of the NCAA tournament in the Sweet 16 – the Huskies’ first time not making the Elite Eight since 2005.

2023-24 season:

To start the new season, UConn is still without Patterson, who had surgery on her knee in the offseason. And both El Alfy and Fudd are out for year. Plus Caroline Ducharme has missed the team’s last two games with neck and back spasms, with no timeline for her return as of Dec. 1.

The No. 11 Huskies are 4-2 to start the season, with a top-25 battle against No. 10 Texas up next at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on ABC.

Azzi Fudd’s family couldn’t quite believe it when she told them that she had torn her ACL and would miss the rest of the season for UConn basketball.

“I was in a state of devastation for her,” her father Tim Fudd told CT Insider. “She’s worked so hard to get herself right and to have this now happen again, it’s like, ‘Dang, like, she has worst luck with stuff in this.’

“We felt like she had gotten over these stupid injuries and like all of a sudden, she calls and it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh. What is it? Why does this keep happening?’”

Fudd tore the ACL and meniscus in her right knee during practice on Nov. 14. So after playing just two games for the Huskies, Fudd will miss the remainder of the 2023-24 season.

The No. 1 recruit in the class of 2021, Fudd has struggled with injuries throughout her three years at UConn. A foot injury in her freshman season kept her out of 11 games, and a knee injury last season had her absent from 22 games.

And Fudd is not the only UConn player to struggle with injuries over the last two seasons. Paige Bueckers tore her ACL and missed her junior season before returning for the 2023-24 campaign. Freshman Ice Brady also missed last season with an injury. And that’s not accounting for the time missed by other players throughout last season; at one point, UConn had to postpone a game due to a lack of available players.

And with Fudd and Jana El Alfy out for this season, the injuries have raised questions about the Huskies’ support staff. WNBA star Diamond DeShields posted on social media after Fudd’s injury: “Who the strength coach there …? Cuz WTF.”

But Tim Fudd quickly came to the defense of Andrea Hudy, the director of sports performance for UConn women’s basketball.

“It has nothing to do with the strength coach,” he tweeted Friday. “She is actually really good. These injuries are the flukiest things I’ve ever seen. Things have occurred that you would see in some rare occasions.”

It has nothing to do with the strength coach. She is actually really good. These injuries are the flukiest things I’ve ever seen. Things have occurred that you would only see in some rare occasions.

— Tim Fudd (@TFudd23) November 24, 2023

Hudy and the UConn staff have been focusing on limiting injury risks through different pre-rehabilitation workouts and data studies on each individual athlete. The Fudds met up with Hudy in the Cayman Islands to discuss how best to help Azzi moving forward.

“You can’t control every scenario, right?” Azzi’s mother Katie Fudd told CT Insider. “You can prepare their bodies but there’s nothing you can do to manipulate situations to keep everyone safe but there’s nothing you can do to manipulate situations to keep everyone safe and healthy. You know, it’s kind of like driving down the street. You might be the best driver in the world, but you can’t control a bad driver, right?

“She (Azzi) really likes Hudy and really trusts her. And we do too. I think she’s taking the time to get to know us and let us get to know her a little bit so that we have that trust and respect. And we’re confident that they’re gonna get her where she needs to be. I don’t have any doubts about that.”

Azzi Fudd will miss the rest of the season for UConn basketball with ACL and meniscal tears in her right knee.

The junior guard played two games to start the Huskies’ season before suffering the noncontact knee injury during practice on Nov. 14. Fudd will have surgery at UConn Health at a later date, the program announced in a news release.

“We’re all just so upset for Azzi,” head coach Geno Auriemma said in a statement. “She worked hard to be healthy for this season, and it’s unfortunate when you put in a lot of hard work and have a setback like this.”

After Fudd’s sophomore season at St. John’s College High School (D.C.), she tore the ACL and MCL in her right knee while playing in a U-18 tournament with USA Basketball.

Over her first two college seasons, Fudd has been in and out of the Huskies’ lineup with injuries. She missed two months due to a foot injury in her freshman season, though she averaged 12.1 points in the 25 games she did play. She dealt with multiple knee injuries during her sophomore season, averaging 15.1 points in just 15 games.

While Fudd entered her junior season with high hopes, she played in just two games before suffering her latest knee injury. UConn has won two games without her in the lineup and will have to navigate the rest of the 2023-24 season without her.

“Azzi loves the game and works tirelessly,” Auriemma said. “I’m confident she’ll rehab with the same work ethic and come back better than ever. We’ll obviously miss her presence on the court, but Azzi will continue to be a great teammate and important part of this team this season. Our program will support Azzi through her recovery however we can.”

No. 6 UConn (3-1) will face No. 2 UCLA (4-0) in its next game at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday.

UConn guard Azzi Fudd was on the sidelines for the eighth-ranked Huskies’ 80-48 win over No. 20 Maryland on Thursday. Head coach Geno Auriemma confirmed that Fudd suffered a non-contact knee injury during practice on Tuesday.

In a team release, UConn said it will provide more information “at a later date” after Fudd undergoes testing. Auriemma, meanwhile, said that Fudd has been dealing with some swelling in her knee, which could delay the testing. The program is holding out hope, he said, that “this one might be minor” after Fudd felt something was off following a shot in practice.

“Just random stuff,” Auriemma said.

The No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2021, Fudd has dealt with injuries throughout her collegiate career. As a freshman, she missed 10 games with a foot injury. Last year as a sophomore, she missed 22 games with right knee injuries.

Prior to stepping on campus, Fudd tore the ACL and MCL in her right knee.

The injury has UConn fans feeling a sense of déjà vu. Paige Bueckers, the 2021 National Player of the Year, missed all of last season with an ACL tear. The year prior, she was sidelined 19 games with a separate knee injury. Forward Ice Brady also missed her freshman year in 2022-23 with a knee injury.

As a team, UConn dealt with unprecedented injuries last season, even forcing them to postpone a conference game in January because they didn’t have seven available players.

“We’ve always handled it really, really, really well,” Auriemma said. “We’ve always been pretty resilient. For us to win 31 games last year, given what we went through, they respond, they don’t pout. They really don’t.

“So when I said, ‘Hey, we’re just going to have to figure this one out — for however long this is, whether it’s today, tomorrow, at least through Saturday, and then we’ll see what happens after that – it changes your rotation, obviously. It changes maybe the way you want to play. It certainly changes your offense.”

Bueckers noted that, while it’s impossible to replace Fudd, the team will have to find a way to make up for her absence.

“Nobody’s going to be Azzi, but we can all do stuff that contributes to filling her void and making sure that we’re accounting for her and doing all the little things,” she said.

Azzi Fudd will not be entering the 2024 WNBA Draft.

Speaking with ESPN’s Rebecca Lobo, Fudd was asked point-blank if she planned on leaving UConn after the 2023-24 season. Since Fudd turns 22 in November 2024, she is eligible for that year’s WNBA Draft. The UConn guard had a definitive answer.

“I plan on staying,” she said. “Why would I want to leave the basketball capital of the world?”

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Fudd isn’t the only player to stay with her college team despite early draft eligibility.

Last year, Cameron Brink opted to forgo the WNBA Draft and stay at Stanford despite being eligible for the 2023 draft. “It’s fun, college is fun,” she said last October. “Why not stay?”

Caitlin Clark, who has an extra year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is undecided on her future at Iowa, though she has said that she’s going to “treat this year like this is my last year.”

“It’s really not something I think about every single day,” Clark said in early October. “It’s not something I let weigh on me. I’m focused on helping this team be the best team they can be, and when I know that decision, all of you will know. I think the biggest thing will be I’m just going to trust my gut and go with that.”

There are also questions about whether redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers will leave for the draft. The UConn star, who missed the majority of the last two seasons due to injuries, has remained noncommittal about her future. 

“I guess we’ll see,” she said when asked about her future with UConn, as CT Insider’s Maggie Vanoni reported from the first practice of the season for the Huskies.

Her answer was similar in March when asked about staying at UConn beyond 2024. She is entering her fourth season with the Huskies, but she could stay through 2026.

“There’s always a chance,” she said. “I have three more years of eligibility. I’m not declining, not saying for sure I will or for sure I won’t. But there’s definitely an opportunity for me to return for a fifth year, even maybe a sixth year.”

Azzi Fudd is learning not to overthink her game with UConn basketball.

During an exhibition game in Italy this offseason, she put up 31 shots in a single game. Only nine of those went in. But that was OK.

“Her demeanor, her focus never wavered,” her father Tim Fudd said. “She shot every shot like she was supposed to shoot it and like it was meant to go in.”

Even though Fudd has been in and out of the Huskies’ lineup with injuries over her first two seasons, her growth has been evident. And as she heads into her junior year, she’s aiming to continue that trajectory.

“That was one of the hardest adjustments, and I think I struggled with that my whole freshman year,” Fudd said. “Like looking back at my game l’m and watching myself I can see like that’s not the player I am. So ever since that year ended, that was my goal (to) never play like that again. Like, just focusing on trying to get my mental side stronger and healthier, which is something that, you know, you can’t fix in the weight room or with (UConn’s athletic trainer) Janelle (Francisco) in the training room.”

Her body language, according to her parents, is the biggest tell for when Fudd is beginning to lose confidence in her game. But as she’s matured, she’s getting out of her own head.

“That’s something I still am working towards, kind of playing without thinking if that makes sense,” she said.

The new mentality has impressed head coach Geno Auriemma. And if she stays healthy, she could become one of the team’s two biggest offensive threats this season alongside Paige Bueckers.

“We’re trying to get her to just play free and clear. Don’t worry about, you know, trying to be perfect,” Auriemma said. “She wants everything to be 100 percent every time. But that’s starting to go away little by little. She’s not a natural risk taker, you know? Which maybe good because Paige and Nika (Mühl) take so many risks that we probably need a steady person out there.

“But she’s adding more to her game than just catch and shoot, catch and shoot, catch and shoot. I bet she’s gotten to the basket and finished in the lane more in, you know, these few practices than maybe she did all last season.”

Any questions of just how much UConn women’s basketball missed Azzi Fudd were answered Monday, as the star sophomore played her best game since her return from injury in the No. 2 seed Huskies’ 77-58 second-round win against No. 7 seed Baylor.

Fudd played 37 minutes and scored 22 points in the victory, both the highest marks for the guard since Nov. 27, just before she sustained the first of two knee injuries that kept her out for most of the season.

While coach Geno Auriemma did not plan to lean quite so heavily on Fudd in just her fifth game back from injury, her ability to play — and to play at a high level — is a credit to her recovery process. And she’s still “getting stronger,” he said after the game.

“That’s way more than I wanted to play her,” he said. “But at the same time, that just goes to show you how far she’s come back and how she feels…

“I’m just glad she’s healthy and can play because I know how much she’s missed it. But the impact that she has on a game is just immeasurable.”

Azzi Fudd 👏

-22 points, her most since November
-16 third-quarter points pic.twitter.com/eMgENebG68

— UConn Women’s Basketball (@UConnWBB) March 21, 2023

Fudd scored 16 points in the third quarter, more than the whole Baylor team, though she demurred when asked about her impact on the game.

“I think everyone played an incredible role tonight, but just keeping that mindset of being aggressive and having my teammates and the coaches continuing to remind me to don’t stop shooting, keep shooting, keep looking for your shot, I think that’s what it was,” she said.

Indeed, the 5-11 sophomore is still finding her shot after her injury-riddled season. She shot 40.9% (9-for-22) from the field Monday, better than in any game since her return from her second knee injury on March 4, but below the 53.3% shooting efficiency she managed before her first injury on Dec. 4.

Her teammate Nika Mühl, though, said the Huskies still feel Fudd’s impact, even as she continues to work her way back to full strength.

“Azzi’s trying to be humble here, but if she misses 100 shots that game, I would still get her the last shot for the win,” Mühl said. “That’s how good of a shooter she is. She is definitely the best shooter that I’ve ever played with. Her shot is perfect…

“Azzi got hot today, and I can’t wait to see what she’s going to go for the rest of the tournament because it’s only the beginning from here.”

Every day, Azzi Fudd is getting back to being the player UConn needs in the NCAA Tournament. 

Fudd, who missed most of the regular season with a knee injury, but made her return in the Big East tournament and helped UConn to the title.

Speaking with the Hartford Courant, Fudd called the conference tournament “the first little intro” before adding that she’s “ready now” for the NCAA Tournament.

“I know she hasn’t played a lot of basketball recently, so a little bit at a time. And she’s looked really, really good in practice,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You can still see there’s a little bit of rustiness there, which is natural. But like I said last year when we added Paige (Bueckers), I said, ‘I don’t know that anybody in the country all of a sudden is adding somebody of that caliber.’ Now we just have to obviously take advantage of it.”

The other Huskies, including Dorka Juhász, know what Fudd brings to the table, which is more than just a bit of breathing room on the bench.

“When we played the past three games, you could just tell how much we missed her,” Juhász said. “Having her back, we’re a whole different team.”

Fudd, meanwhile, is approaching this year’s March Madness with a “brand new perspective.”

“I think injuries definitely give you a brand new perspective on the game,” Fudd said. “On how much you love it, how much it means to you. It makes you work harder. That was my motivation all through my rehab processes both times, just remembering how much I want to play, having to sit there and see the whole team struggle at times knowing that I wanted to be able to contribute and not just have to suffer in silence on the side. 

“That was my motivation and I’m back, so now I’m doing everything I can to stay back and help the team win.”