Azzi Fudd joins fellow UConn champion Paige Bueckers in North Texas, becoming the seventh Husky to earn top WNBA draft pick honors.
Storrs has moved south for the summer.
Deja vu struck with the first pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, the Dallas Wings have selected UConn guard Azzi Fudd with the opening choice. It marks the second straight season where the Wings have welcomed in a UConn backcourt talent, as they previously took her partner and former collaborator Paige Bueckers in the top slot last year.
Fudd overcame early injuries to leave yet another unique impact on the storied Storrs program, averaging 14.7 points over five tours of Connecticut. She shot over 42 percent from 3-point range and led the Big East in the category in each of the last two seasons. She and Bueckers played a major part behind UConn's undefeated run to the 2024 title and she posted All-American honors in another perfect regular season this time around.
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2026 WNBA Draft: WNBA Draft LIVE Tracker | Ballislife WNBA Mock Draft | Flau'jae Johnson Creates, Continues Legacy | UConn, South Carolina WNBA Draft Stars Seek to Follow Coaches' Final OrdersWhile her storied career ended with a defeat to South Carolina in the Final Four, Fudd opted to look at the positive trials in her UConn story upon her arrival in New York this week.
"It's not the way we wanted to end our season, but there was a lot to take away, [like] how incredible my five years have been," Fudd said of her finale. "It's hard to sit knowing my last game [was a loss], but that's not what it's all about." "[It's about] being able to learn from that, being able to take all those experiences, the wins, the losses, the hard practices, the everything. The Good, the Bad, being able to learn from that, continue to grow from that, and then bring all those habits, and those from that championship, that winning mentality I got from UConn, being able to bring those with me and implement that wherever I go."
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Monday marked a triumphant spot for Fudd, who lost her entire 2023-24 season to a torn ACL sustained in practice. As the first top draft pick welcomed in under the collective bargaining agreement, Fudd has earned a $500,000 salary on her first contract, more than five times than what Bueckers is making on her original WNBA deal.
Fudd and Bueckers technically got only got one full season of collaboration, as both were routinely sidelined by injuries during their respective tenures. It's enough for Fudd to refer to her future professional pairing as potential-packed.
"Our time at UConn felt was just full of injury," Fudd said. "Either I was playing, she wasn't, or she was playing, I wasn't. It wasn't until last year that we really got a chance to actually play together, and even then, it wasn't a full season. feel like there's still so much left on the table and so much unknown, just the potential with not just her, but the entire Dallas Wings’ roster. I can't wait, obviously, to play with her again, but to play with every single one of them."
This marks the second occasion where one school has produced the top WNBA Draft pick in consecutive seasons: UConn also holds the original honor, earning it in 2010-11 with the respective arrivals of Tina Charles and Maya Moore. Fudd becomes the seventh woman from UConn to hear her name called first at the draft, extending a very safe WNBA record. Fudd also becomes the second woman in her family to see her name on a WNBA Draft board, as her mother Katie was chosen by the Sacramento Monarchs in 2001's fourth round.
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