Azzi Fudd was selected No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2026 WNBA Draft, reuniting with Paige Bueckers to form the first back-to-back No. 1 picks in league history.
Azzi Fudd is a Dallas Wing. The former UConn guard went No. 1 overall in the 2026 WNBA Draft on Sunday, heading to Dallas to join fellow Husky Paige Bueckers in a backcourt that had been in the making for years.
Fudd was surrounded by family and former teammates when commissioner Cathy Engelbert called her name, and the emotion was immediate.
"I'm not really sure I have words to describe that feeling, what that meant," Fudd said. "I don't think it's fully sunk in. It's nothing I could have imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, hearing your name called, go up there — such a surreal feeling."
Bueckers was in the building to watch it happen. The 2025 Rookie of the Year was Dallas's top pick a year ago and greeted her former teammate as the Wings' newest addition. Together, they give the franchise back-to-back No. 1 overall selections — an unprecedented feat in league history — and extend UConn's record to seven all-time top picks.
"Paige is an incredible player, everyone knows that," Fudd said. "She's someone that makes playing basketball easy."
Sunday also marked a new financial era for incoming players. The new collective bargaining agreement set Fudd's rookie salary at $500,000 — nearly seven times what Bueckers earned as last year's top pick. The Nos. 2 and 3 picks will earn $466,913 and $436,016. Second- and third-round selections start at $270,000, which is more than the old CBA's maximum salary.
Fudd dealt with injuries throughout her college career. When she was on the floor, though, she was as good as anyone in the country — a shooter who didn't need the ball in her hands to be dangerous and a natural fit next to a creator like Bueckers.
The rest of the first round featured several notable selections. Minnesota took TCU guard Olivia Miles second. Miles had delayed her professional career by a year, transferring from Notre Dame to the Horned Frogs before helping the program reach the Elite Eight for a second straight season. Seattle went international at No. 3, selecting Spanish center Awa Fam Thiam. Washington then drafted UCLA's Lauren Betts fourth, and Chicago followed by taking Betts's Bruins teammate Gabriela Jaquez fifth — capping a historic draft night for UCLA, which won its first NCAA championship just days earlier and shattered UConn's record for most first-round picks in a single draft with four.
Toronto, the expansion franchise that won a coin toss to hold the higher pick in the college draft, selected UCLA's Kiki Rice sixth, making her the first pick in Tempo history. Golden State took LSU's Flau'jae Johnson eighth.
"I'm just blessed and grateful to come at this time," Johnson said. "The 30th season. My goal is to leave it better than I found it."
Dallas opens the 2026 regular season May 9 on the road against the Indiana Fever.