On a day where temperatures hit highs in the 40s, over 100 people stood outside in a parking lot in the Hartford suburb of Enfield to get a glimpse at the national champions.
Connecticut calls itself the ‘Basketball Capital of the World’ for a reason. Support for the University of Connecticut’s hoops teams run deep throughout the Nutmeg State – and the men and women who take to the court have re-paid them for that.
Wednesday marks 737 continuous days that UConn can claim a basketball national title. The men carried the crown from 2023 and through 2024.
But here, in the parking lot of a Raising Cane’s chicken restaurant just off Interstate 91, the crowd was there to see KK Arnold and Azzi Fudd – stars of the women’s team that won the school’s most recent national title on Sunday afternoon.
It’s the 18th overall basketball title for the school and the 12th title for the women, making them the most successful collegiate basketball team of any gender in the sport’s history.
Many waiting outside in the brisk conditions were young girls, hoping to see their heroes just days after the UConn women re-cemented themselves atop the sport they’ve dominated for three decades.
UConn national champions Azzi Fudd (L) and KK Arnold (R) speak to fans in Enfield, CT
Less than a week ago, Fudd (far left) and Arnold (second right) won UConn’s 12th national title
At a Raising Cane’s north of Hartford, Fudd and Arnold greeted and served some of their fans
‘That’s the biggest compliment you can give to know that we’re role models for these younger girls, these younger kids,’ Fudd said with a navy blue Cane’s t-shirt on. ‘And just to think that’s something I never want to take for granted, to think I was in their shoes not that long ago. So to be in this position now, it’s incredible.’
So Fudd and Arnold gave back to their community: serving chicken tenders to fans and playing to the crowd as part of an NIL deal with the fast food joint.
They walked out the front doors to cheers and onto a stage as ‘We Are the Champions’ by Queen blared out. Fudd thanked the crowd. Arnold belted out a chant that the crowd played into. Cheers rang out as car horns beeped from the road behind them.
Being a UConn women’s basketball player comes with the pressure and expectation of championships. The NCAA has only sponsored women’s basketball as a championship sport since the mid-1980s. Since then, UConn has won 28% of all titles.
But both Arnold and Fudd knew what they were getting into when they came to UConn. That’s what made it appealing in the first place.
When asked by DailyMail.com if she could imagine herself anywhere else, Arnold replied, ‘Not at all, honestly. In my opinion, this is my dream school. So just living out my dream, being here alongside my sisters, playing with them, learning from the best coaches. I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity.’
Fudd was a projected top-10 pick in the upcoming WNBA draft. Instead, she announced midway through the NCAA Tournament that she’d be returning to Storrs and playing another year under coach Geno Auriemma.
Fudd passed on being a top-10 WNBA Draft pick to return to Storrs, CT for another year in 2026
Arnold called UConn her ‘dream school’, telling DailyMail.com ‘I couldn’t ask for a better opportunity’
‘I’m even more excited and motivated now to come back and win another one with this team,’ Fudd said to DailyMail.com ‘I can’t wait to play more games with every single person on this team.
‘I can’t wait to be back in Gampel [Pavilion] with the best fans in the world. So I think this year winning, it just made me more excited and more hungry to have this feeling again.’
A run to the title seemed up in the air a few months ago. Close losses to USC and rival Tennessee led to many questions being asked of the Huskies.
But they rallied, working together both on the court and away from it to get past whatever might be holding them back.
‘I felt like we just were coming together as a team,’ Arnold told reporters. ‘We did different stuff off the court to bring us together, and we just always communicating with each other, just having fun.
‘I feel like what got us in the season, I’ll definitely say, I’ll say after a couple of games, after those tough games, like Tennessee or those games like that, that really brought us together. We realized we were better than that and just we picked it up from there and just the practices became more intense and different from there.’
Fudd agreed: ‘I think every team goes through their fair share of difficulties and trials. But I think what this team has been through together, especially this core group, I feel like we’ve just been through a lot of traumatic experiences, a lot of injuries, a lot of setbacks… It wasn’t easy the whole year.
‘We had our battles this year, but just to see us come together at the end when it really mattered and play the way that we did, I think it was really special.’
Fudd was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four for her performances
Both Arnold (above) and Fudd are expected to step into leadership roles next season
Next season, both Arnold and Fudd will be leaders on this Huskies team out to defend a title
Fudd was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player for her performances in UConn’s run to the title.
Now, with the departure of guard Paige Bueckers – who is believed to be the first overall pick in next Monday’s WNBA Draft – she will spend the offseason preparing for an increased leadership role.
‘I’m definitely going to have to be vocal next year,’ Fudd told reporters. ‘That’s something that I always just took for granted, having Paige [Bueckers], having Nika [Mühl, who was drafted by Seattle last year], having Kaitlyn [Chen].’
‘I think that’s really going to be the biggest difference is using my voice, getting on people, getting on KK,’ she said with a laugh.
Arnold understands that more will be asked of her as well. She says she’ll spend plenty of time ‘focusing on the weak points of my game and going from there.
Much like Fudd, Arnold will also be working on ‘finding my voice, really being that type of leader that you know, Paige and Kaitlyn and Aubrey [Griffin] and those type of players were to me. Just trying to go from there. Just also having alongside Azzi as well to share that leadership role, that’s super good and it’s gonna be great.’
