Tiffany Hayes praises impact of UConn stars Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd: 'Amazing human beings'
· Yahoo Sports
Tiffany Hayes is wrapping up her 14th season in the WNBA since graduating from the UConn women's basketball program, having watched several generations of burgeoning Huskies stars begin their careers in the league.
The veteran lefty guard offered particular praise for UConn's two most recent No. 1 overall draft picks, Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, crediting the two Dallas Wings youngsters for both their on-court success and their character.
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"They're two amazing human beings off the court, first of all," Hayes told WNBA analyst Conrado Pascual. "Anytime I run into either one of them, they're just great people; they're checking in on people. They always are just looking out for people, and obviously their talent level is just through the roof."
"Like, they work so hard. You can see on the internet [that] they're working out with Steph [Curry], working out with huge trainers. All the time, just trying to get better. And you see them pouring into the next generation already being as young as they are."
Hayes emerged as the second-ranked shooting guard in the 2008 high school class, according to ESPN, and fulfilled a childhood dream of joining Geno Auriemma's program. She began her UConn career off the bench as a freshman, watching as the Huskies began their stretch of consecutive 39-0 seasons led by Maya Moore, but eventually blossomed into a 15-point-per-game scorer and a third-team All-America selection.
Selected in the second round of the 2012 WNBA Draft, Hayes quickly outperformed expectations in Atlanta, finishing third in Sixth Woman of the Year voting as a sophomore. Hayes earned All-Star and All-WNBA First Team honors with the Dream toward the end of the decade and bounced around the WNBA during the twilight of her career. She now steadies an ascendant Golden State squad alongside fellow Huskies Gabby Williams and Kaitlyn Chen.
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