UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd set tongues wagging on Saturday, June 21, when she shared a photo in her Instagram Story.
Fudd, 22, took the snap while at a hair appointment. “The absolute best,” she wrote, tagging the stylist also in the photo, Hayley Logan. But it wasn’t the hairstyle that caught people’s eyes — it was Fudd’s phone case, which reads, “Paige Bueckers’ girlfriend.”
The photo did little to quell dating rumors that have followed the duo for years. Bueckers and Fudd played together at UConn for four seasons, and Bueckers — this year’s No. 1 overall WNBA draft pick — played a crucial role in bringing Fudd to the Huskies.
Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Fudd and Bueckers for comment.
As reported by GQ in February, Fudd was the No. 1 ranked college prospect in November 2020 when UConn approached her about joining Coach Geno Auriemma’s storied team (UConn has spawned several WNBA greats, including Sue Bird, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart, and Diana Taurasi). Fudd had a lot of offers from schools, including Notre Dame and UCLA, but Bueckers did something none of the rest of the schools did: she put together a recruitment video just for Fudd.
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“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 told the outlet. “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 pair’s friendship dates back to when they were both trying out for the USA Basketball U16 team. As Fudd put it, she didn’t see Bueckers as super serious competition until they hit the hardwood. “I was like, Okay, I don’t have anything to worry about. This little white girl? I’ll make the team over her,” Fudd also told the magazine. The duo both made the team, and have had a close friendship ever since.
That friendship has extended to Bueckers’ professional career in the WNBA. Fudd was seated alongside Bueckers’ mother and father at the WNBA Draft in May when the Dallas Wings picked Bueckers up, just weeks after the pair won their first NCAA Finals championship together.
Fudd has since shown up at a handful of Wings games this summer, and Bueckers delighted the pair’s fans when she wore an Azzi Fudd shirt — with her friend’s number 35 prominently displayed — the same night she had a huge 35-point game against the Phoenix Mercury on June 12.
