Dallas Wings select UConn's Azzi Fudd No. 1 in 2026 WNBA draft - ESPN

NEW YORK — Azzi Fudd is on her way to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting for the former UConn star.

«I'm not really sure I have words to describe that feeling what that meant,» Fudd said of getting drafted. «I don't think it's fully sunk in. It's nothing I could have imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, with Morgan (Valley), hearing your name called, go up there. Such a surreal feeling.»

Fudd will pair again with former Huskies teammate Paige Bueckers, who was the Wings' top pick last year. Bueckers — who along with Fudd gave UConn a record seven No. 1 selections — was in attendance at the draft along with Fudd's Huskies teammates.

«Paige is an incredible player, everyone knows that,» Fudd said. «She's someone that makes playing basketball with easy.»

UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez went in the top five, a little over a week after leading the Bruins to their first NCAA championship.

Their teammate, Kiki Rice, went sixth to Toronto, the first pick for the expansion franchise. The Tempo chose to have the higher pick in the college draft after winning a coin toss, giving the Portland Fire the top choice in the expansion draft earlier this month.

UCLA broke UConn's record of having four players drafted in the first round, a mark the Huskies set in 2002, when Angela Dugalić went ninth to Washington — teaming her again with Betts — and Gianna Kneepkens was chosen by Connecticut with the last pick of the opening round.

With Charlisse Leger-Walker's selection in the second round at No. 18 by the Sun, the Bruins also broke a record shared by Tennessee (1997, 2008), Notre Dame (2019) and South Carolina (2023), which all had five players drafted in total.

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