One of the most decorated stars in the 2026 WNBA draft class is off the board after the Dallas Wings selected UConn guard Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 pick.
Fudd was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2025 NCAA tournament as the Huskies lifted their 12th national title. As a fifth-year senior, she was an Associated Press first-team All-American.
Social media reacted accordingly with one of the top overall players landing in Dallas:
Fudd was generally considered the No. 1 recruit in the 2021 class. Injuries were a recurring theme during her first three seasons in Storrs, though. She logged a total of 42 appearances between 2021-24, thus preventing UConn from hitting the heights everyone expected after signing her and Paige Bueckers in successive years.
It’s not a coincidence that the Huskies finally got over the hump in 2024-25 once Fudd and Bueckers were fully healthy. In the national championship victory over South Carolina, Fudd scored 24 points.
With Bueckers moving on to the WNBA, the 5’11” sharpshooter rose to the occasion in 2025-26. She averaged a career-high 17.3 points and 3.1 assists, and her efficiency (48.1 percent overall and 44.7 percent on three-pointers) was higher than ever.
Fans will debate where Fudd’s ceiling sits at the next level.
She’s simply not the same kind of prospect Bueckers was last year. She didn’t impact games on both ends of the floor like her former Huskies teammate did.
To the extent the NCAA tournament can move the needle in WNBA front offices, some evaluators may see Fudd’s performance as a worrying sign. She scored 31 total points on 12-of-39 shooting over UConn’s final three games.
If nothing else, Fudd’s shooting is going to translate, and floor-spacing has become a critical part of offensive schemes in the WNBA, dovetailing with the tactical trends in the NBA.
Should Fudd hit the lower end of her projections and largely become a three-point specialist, she’s still going to have a long career ahead.
