Azzi Fudd Selected No. 1 By Dallas Wings In 2026 WNBA Draft

Everybody’s favorite Huskie just became a Dallas Wing.

The Dallas Wings selected Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Monday night in New York City, and just like that, the most anticipated selection in this year’s class was official. 

Thanks to the league’s new collective bargaining agreement, Fudd will reportedly earn $500,000 as a rookie, which is seven times the $78,831 Bueckers reportedly took home as last year’s top pick. She’ll also be sharing a backcourt with Bueckers in Dallas, a reunion that makes sense on and off the court, given the two have been close since their UConn days and won a national championship together in 2025.

Fudd has said more than once that she feels like she’s entering the league at exactly the right moment. “This is the best time to be a women’s basketball player, and I can’t really emphasize enough how grateful I am to be a part of it at this time and also how grateful I am for everyone that’s come before and really laid that foundation,” she told ESSENCE.

In her final season at UConn, she averaged 17.3 points per game and finished the year having made more three-pointers than any player in the country, connecting on 117 of 262 attempts. The three-point shooting alone would have been enough to justify the pick, but she also walked away from her final season with first-team All-American honors.

She’s also the seventh UConn player to go first overall, joining a list that includes Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, Breanna Stewart and Bueckers. Not bad company.

After winning a national championship in 2025 and being named Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four, she could have entered last year’s draft and likely gone high. Instead, she returned to Storrs for one more season. “My goal this year was to be super present,” she said. “I know how easy it is to get caught up in all the exciting things that are coming up. But I’m also very aware that this is my last time in college.”

She played that way, too, and the Wings are betting she’ll bring that same energy to Dallas when the season tips off May 8.

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