The WNBA season begins on Friday night, and there are several former University of Connecticut women's basketball stars to pay attention to, including Paige Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, both of the Dallas Wings.

Bueckers was the No. 1 pick in the WNBA Draft after helping the Huskies win the national title in 2024-25 and Fudd was the top pick this year after the Huskies advanced to the Final Four.

One former Huskies player who won't be playing, at least not right now, is Aubrey Griffin.

The forward was waived on Saturday by the Minnesota Lynx. She played in one preseason game thus far but didn't play in the second.

A third-round pick in 2025, she sat out last season with a knee injury.

A New York native, Griffin spent parts of six seasons with UConn, redshirting in 2021-22. She was on the team in 2019-20, which meant she was given an extra year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She played in 126 games for the Huskies, getting 41 starts.

She averaged 7.8 ppg for her career while also pulling down 5.4 rebounds.

She averaged a career-high 11.3 ppg in 2022-23. She played only 30 combined games during her final two seasons.

Just because the Lynx waived her doesn't mean that her WNBA chances are over. She will now enter the free agent pool and try to latch on somewhere else.

--The UConn baseball team is partaking in a fun promotion that fans can get involved in. Can you eat nine slices of pizza in nine innings? If so, this upcoming event on May 15 might be for you...

--UConn men's basketball alums Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed Jr. are headed to the NBA Draft Combine later this month. Both players were integral in helping UConn reach the national title game this season and both players are expected to be taken in the draft. While the draft prognostications can always change, the pair figure to be a late first-round pick or an early second. Karaban can provide an NBA team with shooting from a stretch forward position while Reed should be an excellent rebounder and defender at the next level.

The 2026 NBA Draft will be held June 23 and 24 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The first night will be devoted to first-round picks. Second-round selections will be made the following night.

The draft starts at 8 p.m. each night. ABC and ESPN will televise Round 1. Only ESPN will have coverage of the second night.

The full draft order will be known after the NBA draft lottery on May 10. ABC will air the lottery at 3 p.m. ET.

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