WNBA Draft: No. 1 pick intrigue, a UConn reunion and UCLA bonanza highlight league's kickoff of 30th season
NEW YORK — The faces of the 29 previous No. 1 overall WNBA draft picks, from Tina Thompson to Paige Bueckers, adorned stickers up the sides of the escalator at The Shed at Hudson Yards on Monday. Azzi Fudd became No.
30 on the stage of the nearby draft floor , an honor that was not clear-cut until commissioner Cathy Engelbert called her name as the Dallas Wings’ selection. The nervous energy on the faces of all three potential top picks in the moments before Engelbert came back on the stage emanated from the screens on either side of the podium. It is rare in the history of the WNBA that the No.
1 pick is not a clear and consensus one months ahead of draft day, let alone in the final hours. But Fudd, Spain’s Awa Fam Thiam and TCU’s Olivia Miles were all viable choices in the mix this year, trading spots in every mock draft. Another historic night for @UConnWBB 🫡 Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers are the first #1 back-to-back picks from the same school since 2011!
pic. twitter. com/tnx0feFIrT — WNBA (@WNBA) April 13, 2026 The process became all the more complicated this year by a delayed free agency period that remains ongoing this week ahead of training camps opening on Sunday.
Fudd became the seventh No. 1 overall pick from Connecticut and will rejoin last year’s top pick, Paige Bueckers, a year after they won an NCAA national championship together. The historic selection is a signal that her pure shooting ability, heralded early in her young career by Stephen Curry, outweighed any concerns over her injury history, which includes multiple ACL tears that limited her collegiate playing time.
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