UConn star Azzi Fudd will join college basketball teammate Paige Bueckers at the Dallas Wings after being selected first by the franchise at the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday (13 April).
Named Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 NCAA Final Four, the 5ft-11in (1.8m) shooting guard produced some of her best basketball at the collegiate level during the 2025-26 season.
She averaged 17.7 points per game, earning All-American superlatives from the Associated Press and U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and winning the Wooden Award.
“I’m not really sure I have words to describe…what that meant,” Fudd told ESPN after getting drafted. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in.”
Only the seventh UConn player picked first in the draft, Fudd joins a star-studded list that includes Sue Bird (2002), Diana Taurasi (2004), Maya Moore (2011) and Breanna Stewart (2016).
She’ll certainly hope to follow in Bueckers’ footsteps, with the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018 3×3 basketball gold medallist claiming WNBA Rookie of the Year honours in 2025.
“I’m excited to play again with Paige. She’s an incredible person, an incredible player. It’s going to be a lot of fun,” added Fudd.
TCU point guard Olivia Miles was drafted second by the Minnesota Lynx, with Spanish sensation Awa Fam Thiam taken third by the Seattle Storm.
UCLA teammates Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez heard their her names called next, with Betts going to the Washington Mystics at No. 4 and Jaquez going to the Chicago Sky at No. 5.
It was a record-breaking night for the freshly crowned NCAA champions, with six UCLA players drafted in the first two rounds – the most from any school in the history of the WNBA Draft.
Spain’s Iyana Martín, France’s Nell Angloma and Kenya’s Madina Okot were amongst the international players drafted in the first round.
Scroll down for a list of the top picks at the 2026 WNBA Draft.
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2026 WNBA Draft: First round – full list
- Azzi Fudd – Dallas Wings
- Olivia Miles – Minnesota Lynx
- Awa Fam Thiam – Seattle Storm
- Lauren Betts – Washington Mystics
- Gabriela Jaquez – Chicago Sky
- Kiki Rice – Toronto Tempo
- Iyana Martín Carrión – Portland Fire
- Flau’jae Johnson – Golden State Valkyries
- Angela Dugalić – Washington Mystics
- Raven Johnson – Indiana Fever
- Cotie McMahon – Washington Mystics
- Nell Angloma – Connecticut Sun
- Madina Okot – Atlanta Dream
- Taina Mair – Seattle Storm
- Gianna Kneepkens – Connecticut Sun
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/wnba-draft-2026-azzi-fudd-selected-no-1-dallas-wings
