Dallas Wings select Azzi Fudd of UConn No. 1 in WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting - AP News

Azzi Fudd is on her way to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting for the former UConn star. Fudd will pair again with former Huskies teammate Paige Bueckers, who was the Wings’ No. 1 pick last year. The new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last month gave huge pay raises to rookies. Fudd will make nearly seven-times what Bueckers earned last season as the top choice. UCLA had quite a night with five players drafted in the first round breaking the record held by the 2002 UConn team and six overall.

Dallas Wings select Azzi Fudd of UConn No. 1 in WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting

UConn guard Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Texas Christian guard Olivia Miles reacts after being selected second overall by the Minnesota Lynx in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert speaks before the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

UCLA center Lauren Betts poses with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected fourth overall by the Washington Mystics in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

UCLA center Lauren Betts hugs her mother Michelle after being selected fourth overall by the Washington Mystics in the first round of the WNBA basketball draft Monday, April 13, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

NEW YORK (AP) — Azzi Fudd is on her way to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting for the former UConn star. A record-setting six UCLA players followed her into the league.

“I’m not really sure I have words to describe that feeling, what that meant,” Fudd said of getting drafted. “I don’t think it’s fully sunk in. It’s nothing I could have imagined. The feeling of sitting with my family, with Morgan (Valley), hearing your name called, go up there. Such a surreal feeling,”

Fudd will pair again with former Huskies teammate Paige Bueckers, who was the Wings’ top pick last year. Bueckers — who along with Fudd gave UConn a record seven No. 1 selections — was in attendance at the draft along with Fudd’s Huskies teammates.

“Paige is an incredible player, everyone knows that,” Fudd said. “She’s someone that makes playing basketball with easy.”

UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez went in the top five, a little over a week after leading the Bruins to their first NCAA championship.

Their teammate, Kiki Rice, went sixth to Toronto, the first pick for the expansion franchise. The Tempo chose to have the higher pick in the college draft after winning a coin toss, giving the Portland Fire the top choice in the expansion draft earlier this month.

UCLA broke UConn’s record of having four players drafted in the first round, a mark the Huskies set in 2002, when Angela Dugalic went ninth to Washington, teaming her again with Betts. And, Giannna Kneepkens was chosen by Connecticut with the last pick of the opening round.

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