UConn Has the Most No. 1 Overall Picks in WNBA Draft History!

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April 15, 2026April 15, 2026By Admin
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UConn Has the Most No. 1 Overall Picks in WNBA Draft History!

No program in the history of the WNBA Draft has done what the University of Connecticut has done.

Paige Bueckers Azzi Fudd UConn Huskies
(Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

Azzi Fudd went No. 1 to the Dallas Wings on April 13, making her the seventh Husky ever to be the first name called on draft night. Nobody else is close.

“Hearing your name called and walking up there, it just — it’s such a surreal feeling,” Fudd said on draft night. “I’m so grateful.”

The record is simple: UConn has seven. The next-closest programs have two.


The full list — Sue Bird (2002, Seattle Storm), Diana Taurasi (2004, Phoenix Mercury), Tina Charles (2010, Connecticut Sun), Maya Moore (2011, Minnesota Lynx), Breanna Stewart (2016, Seattle Storm), Paige Bueckers (2025, Dallas Wings), and Fudd (2026, Dallas Wings).

Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee, and South Carolina are tied for second with two No. 1 picks apiece. UConn has more than three times that total.

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A Legacy Built on Winning

Geno Auriemma has built the most dominant program in the history of women’s college basketball. Twelve national championships. And nearly every player he has coached who was good enough to go first overall did so.

Bird was drafted first overall in 2002 and spent 20 seasons in Seattle before retiring in 2022. She racked up four WNBA titles, 13 All-Star appearances, and one of the cleanest careers in league history.

Two years later, UConn sent the player many consider the greatest of all time to the top of the board. Diana Taurasi went first overall to Phoenix after winning three consecutive national championships at UConn. She was named Rookie of the Year in 2004 and won her first of three WNBA titles in 2007, eventually becoming the league’s all-time leading scorer.

Tina Charles was drafted first overall in 2010 after back-to-back national titles. She won Rookie of the Year and the 2012 WNBA MVP, and is the league’s all-time rebounding leader. One year later, Maya Moore went No. 1 to Minnesota in 2011, won Rookie of the Year, captured four WNBA titles, and was named league MVP in 2014.

Breanna Stewart extended the run in 2016, and the Huskies didn’t slow down from there.

Back-to-Back No. 1 Picks in Dallas

The most recent chapter of UConn’s No. 1 pick legacy has a notable common thread: the Dallas Wings.

Paige Bueckers was selected first overall by Dallas in 2025 after capping her collegiate career by leading UConn to the NCAA Championship. In four seasons with the Huskies, she reached four Final Fours, appeared in two National Championship games, and won eight Big East titles, finishing as the program’s all-time leader in career scoring average at 19.8 points per game.

One year later, Dallas was back on the clock with the top pick. Wings General Manager Curt Miller called it “another special moment for our organization — our second consecutive number one pick.”

The Wings selected the 5-foot-11 Fudd out of Arlington, Va., after she put together the best collegiate season of her career in 2025-26 — averaging a career-high 17.7 points per game on 48.9/45.5/95.5 shooting splits while leading all of Division I in three-pointers made with 117. She also earned Associated Press, USBWA, and Wooden Award All-America honors, was named the 2026 Big East Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and helped lead UConn to the Final Four for the 25th time in program history.

“Azzi Fudd is one of the best shooters in our game today,” Miller said. “She has a lightning-quick release, and her movement off the ball is elite. She competes hard defensively and is an efficient, unselfish player who knows how to win. The intangibles were ultimately the deciding factor — she’s a unifier in the locker room, a great teammate, and has all the characteristics we’re trying to accumulate.”

Dallas Hit Big in Free Agency

Head coach Jose Fernandez made an early trip to Storrs after being hired to evaluate Fudd firsthand. The intel only further solidified what the Wings thought.

“We never wavered — she was the right fit for this team and the locker room,” Fernandez said. “She brings spacing, a quick release, three-point shooting, and comes from a program that knows how to win. That’s what we want in Dallas.”

Fudd will plug into a backcourt alongside Bueckers and Arike Ogunbowale. Miller sees the fit as straightforward.

“Paige and Arike have the ball, and Azzi fits because she’s so good off the ball,” he said. “That’s a great combination.”

When pairing Bueckers, Fudd, and Ogunbowale with new frontcourt additions Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard, Fernandez sees a dynamic combination that will be challenging for defenses to guard.

“When you look at this roster — Paige, Arike, Azzi, along with the front line — it’s going to be tough to guard us,” Fernandez emphasized.

Fudd’s arrival also reunites her with Bueckers, her former UConn backcourt partner. The two played 49 games together with the Huskies, including the 2025 national championship run, during which Fudd was named the Final Four Most Outstanding Player after averaging 17.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.

“Our time at UConn felt like — it was just full of injury, full of like either I was playing, she wasn’t, she was playing, I wasn’t,” Fudd said. “It wasn’t until last year that we really got a chance to actually play together. And even then, it wasn’t a full season. So I feel like there’s still so much left on the table.”

No One Else Is Close

Since 1997, 27 of the 30 top overall WNBA picks have come from NCAA Division I programs. UConn has accounted for nearly a quarter of them. The next-closest programs each have two.

The Huskies have produced No. 1 picks in four different decades. They have sent point guards, forwards, and versatile wings to the top of the board. They have done it across different recruiting classes, supporting casts, and eras of the women’s game.

Seven picks. One program. No one else is in the conversation. The next-best candidate to go potentially No. 1 overall is Sarah Strong, as she continues to build her legacy in Storrs.

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