“Happy birthday stinky girl”: Azzi Fudd’s brother Jose shares unseen snaps of UConn star
Connecticut guard Azzi Fudd turned 22 on Monday and she received her birthday greetings from her brother, Jose Fudd, via Instagram story. The Mary Washington guard shared a photo collage of the two of them along with a funny birthday message for his big sister:
"Happy birthday stinky girl. Love you endlessly sis."
Jose Fudd began his college career this season with the Eagles. He scored his first college points against Kean last week and Azzi Fudd shared her proud feeling on Instagram.
Jose admitted to initial popularity among his new peers thanks to his famous sister.
“[During] my first two or three weeks here, everyone would look at me and they would be like, ‘oh my gosh, like that’s Azzi Fudd’s brother’ or ‘oh my gosh, I know your sister’,” Jose said per GCM News. “I don’t know how many times I got that.”
However, Fudd admitted that with the popularity came pressure.
"It’s definitely weird putting yourself in that situation and being that kid that everyone’s talking about and with my sister's social media presence and my whole family background like you’re definitely going to get talked about a lot," he said.
"And so they definitely expected a lot from me because my whole family was just basketball and fame. My mom was in the Virginia High School Hall of Fame.”
Azzi Fudd on growing up with Jose Fudd
Jose came into the Fudd family as a two-year-old when he was placed under foster care with Azzi's paternal grandmother. After her lung cancer diagnosis when Jose was 5, the UConn guard's parent adopted him and his brother, Jon.
While he was interested in baseball and soccer, basketball stuck with Jose Fudd, mostly due to him being Azzi's training partner and watching her become a high-school star and No. 1 ranked prospect of the 2021 class.
“I guess I helped him, but he helped me so much in my process as well,” Azzi Fudd said per the Washington Post. “By being my rebounder and passer literally every day and they would cry, complain about it and obviously didn’t have a choice.
"They are my little brothers, my mom would tell them what to do, but still they were there every day helping me.”
After sitting out last season with an ACL tear, Azzi is expected to make a healthy return soon. While she navigates a potential championship run with the Huskies, Jose Fudd will be working his way up with the Eagles.