Azzi Fudd, Olivia Miles and Awa Fam are in contention for the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft

After back-to-back years in which the top pick in the WNBA Draft was a foregone conclusion — Caitlin Clark to the Indiana Fever in 2024, Paige Bueckers to the Dallas Wings in 2025 — the No. 1 in the 2026 iteration remained a mystery all the way until the first pick's announcement Monday.

Then, the Dallas Wings selected Azzi Fudd of Connecticut.

TCU guard Olivia Miles, and Spanish center Awa Fam, also were considered in the running.

Fudd, 23, averaged 17.3 points per game in her final collegiate season, her best scoring season for the Huskies. She won a championship in 2025 with Bueckers as her teammate, but she struggled in the tournament this year. In her last three games at UConn, Fudd averaged only 10.3 points, scoring only eight in a season-ending loss to South Carolina in the Final Four.

At the next level, Fudd projects to be a great 3-point shooter and a serviceable defender at guard. Adding a layer of intrigue is that Fudd is currently in a romantic relationship with Bueckers, with the two going public in July 2025.

Fam is perhaps the highest-ceiling prospect in the draft, but also the most mysterious. Playing for Valencia in Spain — in the top professional league for women — the 19-year-old Fam is averaging 9.2 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. At 6-foot-6 with interior scoring and passing skills, Fam could become more than just a complementary piece, and maybe a star in her own right. But her age makes her more of a gamble than the college stars who have played against each other for several years.

Miles averaged a career-best 19.6 points per game for the Horned Frogs in 2025-26, her first year with the team after four seasons at Notre Dame. Miles is not quite the shooter Fudd is, but she makes up for her so-so outside game with an ability to get to the rim and the free-throw line. Miles is an especially great playmaker, averaging 6.5 assists in her college career. Her ability to create for others makes her a great pick for a team that doesn’t need a ball-dominant scorer.

TCU guard Olivia Miles drives to the hoop against South Carolina on March 30.Thien-An Truong / Getty Images

The Wings picked first after finishing last season tied for the league’s worst record, with Chicago, at 10-34.

It’s been an eventful year for the WNBA, which begins its 30th season. Following a contentious labor negotiation that dragged on until March, the league has already held an expansion draft earlier this month. Free agency also began before the annual draft, and players signed record contracts in wake of the new collective bargaining agreement.

Under that new agreement, Fudd will earn a $500,000 salary as the top pick as a rookie — seven times more than the $78,831 that last year’s top pick, Bueckers, earned.

The 2026 regular season is set to begin on May 8.