![\"TAMPA,](\"https:\/\/platform.raptorshq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/130\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-2211539088.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/p>\nTAMPA, FLORIDA – APRIL 6: Azzi Fudd #35 of the Connecticut Huskies dribbles against the South Carolina Gamecocks during the 2025 NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament Championship game at Amalie Arena on April 6, 2025 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Thien-An Truong\/ISI Photos\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n
Azzi Fudd is coming off her National Championship run to play one last season at the University of Connecticut, poised to be a top pick in the 2026 Draft. After suffering with injury for a lot of her college career, including missing over a year recovering from ACL surgery, Fudd had a great redshirt junior year in 2024-2025, ultimately ending in a Championship. She is using her redshirt year to come back as a 5th-year senior for the upcoming college season.<\/p>\n
While we haven\u2019t seen Fudd play to her full potential for an entire season during her tenure at UConn, she has a way of stepping up when the team needs her most. She was a huge part of crucial games last season, including UConn\u2019s big regular-season win against South Carolina and again when they played South Carolina for the championship. Finally fully back from ACL recovery, Fudd seems to be getting more and more comfortable back on the court as time goes on, and her postseason run this spring proved that. There is a ton of excitement for her potential this season.<\/p>\n
Fudd is a sharpshooter, known for her clean shooting form and fast clip \u2014 often getting her shot up before the defence even notices she has the ball. She\u2019s also become more aggressive on the drive in recent years, and her physicality has improved as she has increased her strength. If she plays like she did at the end of the 2025 season, she will be a top pick in the 2026 draft.<\/p>\n
Apr 4, 2025; Tampa, FL, USA; UCLA Bruins center Lauren Betts (51) dribbles against Connecticut Huskies center Jana El Alfy (8) during the third quarter in a semifinal of the women\u2019s 2025 NCAA tournament at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n When you\u2019re a 6-foot-7-inch post-player in women\u2019s college basketball, you\u2019re a little inevitable, which is a great way to describe Betts. After starting her college career at Stanford, Betts transferred to UCLA, and she\u2019s thrived. Her team spent most of last season undefeated, finally meeting their match when faced with cross-city rivals USC. They went on to win the Big-10 Tournament and then made it all the way to the Final Four at the NCAA Tournament as a No. 1-seed.<\/p>\n Betts herself is a traditional center who can put the ball into the hoop, defend the rim, block, rebound, and has a high motor for her height. It\u2019s hard to pass up on a prospect like her, given her size and ability to be a mismatch in the post, but Betts performs in a way that boosts her potential beyond just being tall.<\/p>\n While she was draft eligible this past season, Betts was vocal about wanting to use her final year of eligibility at UCLA. After her sister Sienna Betts committed to the school as well, the older Betts knew she wanted to play one year of college together with her younger sister. The two will be a dynamic duo for the Bruins, who are returning a good portion of their core next season.<\/p>\n Mar 29, 2025; Birmingham, AL, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish guard Olivia Miles (5) works the ball down the court against the TCU Horned Frogs during the first half of a Sweet 16 NCAA Tournament basketball game at Legacy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images Vasha Hunt-Imagn Images<\/p>\n Olivia Miles provided the women\u2019s college basketball world with the shock of the year when she decided not only to skip the 2025 WNBA Draft and stay in college one more year, but also to transfer schools. Miles was a prospective No.2-No.3 pick in this year\u2019s draft, and had played 4 years at Notre Dame along with phenom rising junior Hannah Hidalgo and now WNBA rookie phenom Sonia Citron. After missing a year of college with an ACL injury, Miles committed to coming back to Notre Dame for last season. It was expected she\u2019d play this year and then enter the draft, beginning her WNBA career as a top prospect.<\/p>\n Then she dropped the news: she wasn\u2019t entering the draft, but she also wasn\u2019t staying at Notre Dame. In what would be the beginning of a mass exodus of transfers out of Notre Dame, Miles entered the transfer portal. Eventually, she landed at TCU, where Hailey Van Lith had just graduated from the program and become the Chicago Sky\u2019s first-round draft pick.<\/p>\n Miles brings a playmaking IQ to the court, able to pass the ball but also get her own when it comes to scoring ability. While she wasn\u2019t the No. 1 perimeter defender at Notre Dame, since Hidalgo locks up that title pretty easily, Miles can still get it done on both ends of the court. She is a solid point guard option who can score, shoot, defend, and pass at a high level. It will be interesting to see if her draft stock stays on par through her year at TCU, or if the decision to stay in college costs her that top-3 pick status.<\/p>\n Flau\u2019Jae Johnson (G) LSU<\/p>\n SPOKANE, WASHINGTON – MARCH 30: Flau\u2019Jae Johnson #4 of the LSU Lady Tigers looks on against the UCLA Bruins during the first quarter in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women\u2019s Basketball Tournament at Spokane Arena on March 30, 2025 in Spokane, Washington. (Photo by Alika Jenner\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n Another player who could have gone pro this year, but opted to stay in college, is Flau\u2019Jae Johnson. I\u2019ve said for years that Johnson would be a great player for the Tempo to draft in their first year. She is not only an incredible player, but her personality is just what you\u2019d want from the young star of a brand-new franchise.<\/p>\n Looking back on that infamous game between Caitlin Clark\u2019s Iowa Hawkeyes and the Van Lith\/Angel Reese\/Johnson-led LSU Tigers in the 2024 NCAA tournament, Johnson was the only player who really figured out how to defend Clark. To this day, I don\u2019t understand why Coach Mulkey continuously went back to assigning Van Lith to Clark when Johnson was shutting her down more effectively.<\/p>\n So, Johnson can defend, and that\u2019s as much proof as any of that fact. When it comes to offence, Johnson\u2019s height and wingspan make her an automatic mismatch on smaller guards at her position. She can shoot, and her one-legged fadeaway jumper is just as pretty as it is effective. When it comes to players on the board, Johnson is the beginning of the group that the Tempo could actually take at the No. 6 pick.<\/p>\n Ta\u2019Niya Latson (G) South Carolina<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n