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UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) shoots against UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) during the second half of a national semifinal Final Four game during the women’s NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo\/Chris O’Meara)<\/p>\n
Chris O’Meara\/AP<\/p>\n
For the second consecutive year, the\u00a0Dallas Wings <\/a>selected a UConn standout with the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft.<\/p>\n First, it was Paige Bueckers. Now, it’s Azzi Fudd.<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Wings are hoping Fudd can help bolster the team’s 3-point shooting after a 2025 season full of struggles. Fudd, a 42% 3-point shooter throughout her college career, seems like a natural fit for Dallas’ roster.<\/p>\n Here are five things to know about Fudd:<\/p>\n 1. The basics<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n High school: St. John’s College High School (Washington, D.C.)<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Hometown: Arlington, Virginia<\/p>\n Birthday: Nov. 11, 2002 (23 years old)<\/p>\n 2. She won a national title with Paige Bueckers<\/p>\n Fudd had a standout collegiate career at UConn, where she earned several accolades. She earned All-Big East honors in 2022, 2025 and 2026, and she was a first-team AP All-American in her last season at the school. One of the most important accolades on her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is a 2025 national title win with the Huskies.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Fudd won that trophy alongside Bueckers. The backcourt duo led the program to a 37-3 record and Final Four victories over UCLA and South Carolina. Fudd was named most outstanding player for that year’s Final Four.<\/p>\n 3. She was named after a former women’s hoops star<\/p>\n Fudd was named after former women’s basketball player Jennifer Azzi. According to an article from ESPN’s Katie Barnes<\/a>, Fudd’s mother admired Jennifer Azzi’s game. Jennifer Azzi won a national title in 1990 at Stanford before embarking on a professional playing career that spanned from 1990-2003.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom told me when I was younger, but it didn’t really resonate with me until I was in middle school,\u201d Fudd told USA Basketball in 2021.<\/a> \u201cI started to realize I love the game and that I was actually pretty good at it. And then I started to appreciate who Jennifer Azzi was. So probably around middle school was when it really kind of hit me that I was named after an amazing person and player.”<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 4. She’s the latest in a long line of UConn top picks<\/p>\n In 2026, Fudd became the seventh UConn player to go No. 1 overall in the WNBA draft. The list of top UConn draftees has\u00a0some impressive names. Check it out:<\/p>\n Sue Bird (Seattle Storm in 2002) By signing up, you agree to our Terms Of Use<\/a> and acknowledge that your information will be used as described in our Privacy Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n 5. She comes from a basketball family<\/p>\n Both of Fudd’s parents played basketball in the past. Her mother, Katie, played collegiately at NC State and Georgetown from 1997-2001. After her time at Georgetown ended, Katie was selected by the Sacramento Monarchs in the fourth round of the 2001 WNBA draft.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Fudd’s father, Tim, played at American University from 1991-96.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UConn guard Azzi Fudd (35) shoots against UCLA center Lauren Betts (51) during the second half of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248788,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,4432,89478],"class_list":{"0":"post-248787","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-things-to-know","12":"tag-tp-paige-bueckers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248787","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248787"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248787\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248788"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248787"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248787"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248787"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
\nDiana Taurasi (Phoenix Mercury in 2004)
\nTina Charles (Connecticut Sun in 2010)
\nMaya Moore (Minnesota Lynx in 2011)
\nBreanna Stewart (Seattle Storm in 2016)
\nPaige Bueckers (Dallas Wings in 2025)
\nAzzi Fudd (Dallas Wings in 2026)
\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775031754_150_rawImage.jpg\" "\\"#\\"")
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