UConn’s Azzi Fudd is different from almost every WNBA Draft No. 1 overall pick originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There’s no guarantee that the Dallas Wings take Azzi Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft.
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But if they do, it’ll be a different sort of selection than almost every first pick in the league’s history.
The basic idea is this: Fudd isn’t an on-ball player, or a dominant interior force. If someone falls in the middle, they’re often the best scorer in every gym they enter.
For most of basketball history, post players ruled the game. And then more recently, it’s about the creators who can have the ball in their hand all the time — think Maya Moore or Sabrina Ionescu or, yes, Paige Bueckers.
Fudd doesn’t really fit the molds.
She averaged 3.1 assists per game in her final season at UConn — she has solid enough court vision when defenses overcommit to her, and as the Huskies absolutely clobbered teams, it wasn’t that hard to get a few dimes each night.
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She is unlikely to be an on-ball player in the WNBA, though, which limits her upside at least a little bit.
Maybe the Wings don’t need that player type. After all, they’ve already got Bueckers, and she clearly knows how to play well with Fudd.
It’d be different, though.
History of WNBA Draft No. 1 overall pick
This is the list by year:
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1997: Tina Thompson, F, USC
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1998, Margo Dydek, C, Spain
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1999: Chamique Holdsclaw, F, Tennessee
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2000: Ann Wauters, C, France
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2001: Lauren Jackson, C, Australia
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2003: LaToya Thomas, F, Mississippi State
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2004: Diana Taurasi, G, UConn
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2005: Janel McCarville, C, Minnesota
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2006: Seimone Augustus, F, LSU
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2007: Lindsey Harding, G, Duke
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2008: Candace Parker, F, Tennessee
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2009: Angel McCoughtry, F, Louisville
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2010: Tina Charles, C, UConn
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2011: Maya Moore, F, UConn
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2012: Nneka Ugwumike, F, Stanford
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2013: Brittney Griner, C, Baylor
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2014: Chiney Ogwumike, F, Stanford
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2015: Jewell Loyd, G, Notre Dame
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2016: Breanna Stewart, F, UConn
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2017: Kelsey Plum, G, Washington
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2018: A’ja Wilson, F, South Carolina
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2019: Jackie Young, G, Notre Dame
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2020: Sabrina Ionescu, G, Oregon
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2021: Charli Collier, C, Texas
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2022: Rhyne Howard, G, Kentucky
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2023: Aliyah Boston, C, South Carolina
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2024: Caitlin Clark, G, Iowa
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2025: Paige Bueckers, G, UConn
