Dallas Wings Select Azzi Fudd No. 1 Overall in 2026 WNBA Draft
WNBA Dallas Wings

Dallas Wings Select Azzi Fudd No. 1 Overall in 2026 WNBA Draft

Published on April 13, 2026 under Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Dallas Wings News Release


New York, NY - The Dallas Wings selected University of Connecticut guard Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick in Monday's WNBA Draft 2026 presented by State Street Investment Management SPY. A 5-11 sharpshooting guard, Fudd comes to Dallas after five years with the Huskies, including the 2025 NCAA Championship season.

"Azzi Fudd is one of the best shooters in our game today," said Dallas Wing Executive Vice President and General Manager Curt Miller. "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. In an outstanding draft class, she stood out to us not only with her basketball skills but with her intangibles. She is a great teammate and has outstanding basketball IQ. Azzi brings to the Wings the type of character that we want in our locker room. We are ecstatic to add her to our Wings family."

Accolades poured in for Fudd during her final season in Storrs, claiming All-America honors from the Associated Press, USBWA and Wooden Award. She was the 2026 BIG EAST Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-BIG EAST First Team member, while also earning NCAA Fort Worth Regional 1 All-Region Team recognition, leading the Huskies to their 25th trip to the Final Four.

Fudd played her best collegiate basketball season in 2025-26. Starting all 39 games, she averaged a career-high 17.7 points per game on personal-best shooting percentages (.489/.455/.955). She set single-season career highs in points (673), rebounds (100), assists (117), blocks (18) and steals (97). Her three-point percentage ranked fifth nationally, while total three-pointers made (117) led all of Division I.

During her redshirt-junior season in 2024-25, Fudd helped lead the Huskies to their 12th national title. She averaged 17.5 points per game in the NCAA Tournament alone, highlighted by 24 points in the National Championship win over South Carolina. Fudd was named the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player. She also earned 2025 All-BIG EAST First Team honors and was voted to the BIG EAST All-Tournament Team.

Fudd's early UConn career was sidetracked by injuries, though she averaged 12.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists off .457 shooting including .430 from three during her freshman year in 2021-22, earning BIG EAST All-Freshman Team honors along with a spot on the 2022 NCAA Tournament Bridgeport All-Region Team. Her sophomore campaign saw her scoring bumped to 15.1 points per game along with 1.9 assists, before her junior season was cut short after two games.

Fudd finished her UConn career leading the historic program in career free-throw percentage (.925), listing fourth in single-season three-pointers made (117 in 2025-26), fifth in career threes made (292) and seventh in career three-point shooting (.422).

The nation's top-ranked recruit in the Class of 2021, Fudd shined at St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C. The Arlington, Va., native was a three-time Gatorade Washington, D.C. Player of the Year, a 2021 McDonald's All-American, 2019 Gatorade National Player of the Year - the first sophomore ever to win the award, along with a slew of high school All-America certificates.

Fudd also has experience on the international level with USA Basketball, winning a gold medal at the 2021 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup and 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. She won a tournament title at the 2018 Latvia U17 International Invitational and competed in the 2019 USA 3x3 U19 National Championship.

Fudd becomes the seventh UConn player to be selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft. Dallas won the Draft Lottery this past November to secure the opportunity to select Fudd on Monday night. The Wings selection reunites Fudd with former teammate and fellow national champion Paige Bueckers, who Dallas selected No. 1 overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft. During their time together at Connecticut, Fudd and Bueckers combined for one of the most talented backcourts in recent memory. They played in 49 games together, making two Final Four appearances including 2025 when they won the NCAA Championship.

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