UConn women’s basketball star Azzi Fudd was named to the preseason top 20 watchlist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award recognizing the nation’s best shooting guard.
Fudd is expected to be one of the best players in the country entering her redshirt senior season the healthiest she’s been in her college career. The Huskies’ sharpshooter appeared in 34 games last season after returning from a 2023 ACL tear and averaged 13.6 points shooting a career-best 47.4% from the field and leading the team hitting 43.6% from beyond the arc.
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Fudd hit her stride during the NCAA Tournament, averaging 17.5 points going 48.1% from the field and 44.4% on 3-pointers across six games to lead UConn to its 12th national championship. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.
Fudd was also named to the preseason All-Big East team last week, and she was the first player off the preseason AP All-America team receiving the sixth-most votes from the media panel.
UConn women’s basketball sweeps Big East preseason awards, lands four players on all-conference team
USC superstar JuJu Watkins has won the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award the last two years, but she will not compete in the 2025-26 season after suffering an ACL tear during the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Three of the other four finalists for the award last season are back on the preseason watchlist: Vanderbilt’s Mikayla Blakes, LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson and South Carolina’s Ta’Niya Latson, who played at Florida State last year. The fifth 2025 finalist, Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo, is on the preseason list for the Nancy Lieberman Award given to the country’s top point guard.
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Fudd would be the second UConn player to win the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award after Christyn Williams earned the honor in 2022. Former Huskies star Paige Bueckers, who won the 2025 Nancy Lieberman Award, was a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale in 2023-24.
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt; Kara Dunn, USC; Elle Evans, Kansas; Azzi Fudd, UConn; Delany Gibb, Baylor; Ashlon Jackson, Duke; Flau’jae Johnson, LSU.
Zamareya Jones, NC State; Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina; Destiny Leo, UNLV; Laila Phelia, Syracuse; Tajianna Roberts, Louisville; Taliah Scott, Baylor.
Kaylene Smikle Maryland; Syla Swords, Michigan; Lulu Twidale, Cal; Rachel Ullstrom, Richmond; Payton Verhuist, Oklahoma; Ruby Whitehorn, Tennessee
