Azzi Fudd mentioned a ‘bittersweet’ feeling seeing Paige Buckers back in the training with the UConn team.

Paige Bueckers joined the Dallas Wings just eight months ago and still went back to her UConn roots more than three times in the two-month offseason. She went back to collect her championship ring and attended the season opener of the UConn Huskies.

Bueckers even played with the male practice squad amid the WNBA offseason and showed her abilities on the floor. While doing so, the player was not actively involved with her team and teammates, but she received the same opportunity in the practice reunion on Sunday, December 7.

This was once again the time when she faced her former teammates in a practice session, including Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong.
Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers (Photo by Imagn Images)

Azzi Fudd Reacts To Paige Bueckers’ Reunion

{B led the side to its record 12th NCAA Championship, forming a strong core with freshman Sarah Strong and junior guard at the time, Azzi Fudd. While Strong created history becoming the first player with 20= points and 15+ rebounds in NCAA finals, Fudd won the MOP award for her overall impact on the game, and helped Bueckers sign off with a championship.

So when the 2025 rookie was back at the UConn training facility, Fudd had a bittersweet feeling, as she told the media about having the Wings’ rookie and Aaliyah Edwards at the practice reunion.  Fudd said, “I feel like for the people who played with them, having them back, it’s like that bittersweet [feeling]. It’s like, ‘Aw, we miss you guys. We miss having you here.’ But it’s a lot of fun to have them back.”

“Just the energy they bring, and obviously they make the red team a lot better when they’re playing. And it’s more of a challenge for us, so it gives us better competition, different things to look at,” Fudd added.

Coach Geno Auriemma also praised both players, noting that they hadn’t changed much, yet they were different from when they left the program. But the PB and Auriemma reunion also had to be a blockbuster one, and the HC didn’t disappoint, taking a jab at the star playmaker.

Paige Bueckers Receives Hilarious Comparison From Coach Geno Auriemma

While Wings’ guard opened up on Geno Auriemma’s nicer behavior towards her since she left for the WNBA, the coach was not letting a chance to tease his favorite child go by. When the media asked him about having both his players back in the facility, he praised one and made fun of the other.

Auriemma said, “It was great to see Alliyah, because we haven’t seen her in a while. She looks fantastic. She is great. It’s great to have her here. The other one is just having Dennis the Menace back on chaos.”

The coach even told reporters that the WNBA Rookie of the Year was complaining about her selection in the league and taunted her UConn teammates, saying they couldn’t guard her since she now plays in the bigger league.