Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd are competing for the same award that Caitlin Clark won

Paige Bueckers will aim to match Caitlin Clark by winning the Wooden Award Most Outstanding Player prize as the UConn Huskies star is named to their Top 50 Watch list as she kicks off her 2024 NCAA season.

The award recognises exceptional talent within the women’s college basketball scene and is one of the most prestigious accolades a

Clark, then playing with the Iowa Hawkeyes, claimed the prize twice in 2023 and 2024 as well as being named to the Wooden Award All American Team, so as the player tipped for a big season this time around, Bueckers has a high standard to meet.

And fortunately for her ambition, the 23-year-old already has prior as she won the prize in 2021 by becoming the first freshman to ever do so as well as the most recent Huskies player to do so too.

But she has tough competition in the form of her teammate, Azzi Fudd, who will also look to upset her as they aim to contest the Naismith Award after also being named to that watch list too.

Should she successfully collect the trophy in 2025, she will join a very elite club. Just Breanna Stewart and Maya Moore have only ever managed to win the Wooden Award twice with the Huskies.

Since then, Stewart has gone on to be a three-time champion, two-time MVP and two-time Finals MVP in the WNBA. Whilst Moore became a four-time champion, 2014 MVP and 2013 Finals MVP as well as a six-time All-Star, with her jersey being retired by the Minnesota Lynx.

Huskies win on opening night

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If Bueckers and Fudd aim to win the awards, they’re going in the right direction as the Huskies crushed Boston University on opening night, winning 86-32 featuring an explosive first half that saw them go into the break with a 60-13 lead.

Bueckers posted 13 points, seven assists and three rebounds at the XL Center in Hartford, CT, on November 7 whilst Fudd didn’t feature.