Since the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997, 29 NCAA players have heard their names called as the No. 1 pick.
UConn’s Paige Bueckers is the most recent player to be selected first overall. The Dallas Wings drafted the 2025 DI women’s basketball champion with the No. 1 pick in 2025.
The Huskies have produced the most first-overall picks with six total. Before Bueckers, the most recent Huskies’ selection was Breanna Stewart (2016) followed by Maya Moore (2011), Tina Charles (2010), Diana Taurasi (2004) and Sue Bird (2002).
Notre Dame, Stanford, Tennessee and South Carolina tie for second with two from each school.
📊 DRAFT DATA: College basketball schools with the most WNBA 1st-round draft picks
The Seattle Storm have been first on the clock four times, the most in league history, locking up Stewart most recently in the 2016 draft. With the 2023 pick the Indiana Fever made its first-ever top selection; the Chicago Sky is now the only current team that’s never picked first.
Here’s every WNBA No. 1 overall pick since 1997:
| DRAFT YEAR | WNBA TEAM | PLAYER | SCHOOL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dallas Wings | Paige Bueckers | UConn |
| 2024 | Indiana Fever | Caitlin Clark | Iowa |
| 2023 | Indiana Fever | Aliyah Boston | South Carolina |
| 2022 | Atlanta Dream | Rhyne Howard | Kentucky |
| 2021 | Dallas Wings | Charli Collier | Texas |
| 2020 | New York Liberty | Sabrina Ionescu | Oregon |
| 2019 | Las Vegas Aces | Jackie Young | Notre Dame |
| 2018 | Las Vegas Aces | A’ja Wilson | South Carolina |
| 2017 | Atlanta Dream | Kelsey Plum | Washington |
| 2016 | Seattle Storm | Breanna Stewart | UConn |
| 2015 | Seattle Storm | Jewell Loyd | Notre Dame |
| 2014 | Connecticut Sun | Chiney Ogwumike | Stanford |
| 2013 | Phoenix Mercury | Brittney Griner | Baylor |
| 2012 | Los Angeles Sparks | Nneka Ogwumike | Stanford |
| 2011 | Minnesota Lynx | Maya Moore | UConn |
| 2010 | Connecticut Sun | Tina Charles | UConn |
| 2009 | Atlanta Dream | Angel McCoughtry | Louisville |
| 2008 | Los Angeles Sparks | Candace Parker | Tennessee |
| 2007 | Phoenix Mercury | Lindsey Harding | Duke |
| 2006 | Minnesota Lynx | Seimone Augustus | LSU |
| 2005 | Charlotte Sting | Janel McCarville | Minnesota |
| 2004 | Phoenix Mercury | Diana Taurasi | UConn |
| 2003 | Cleveland Rockers | LaToya Thomas | Mississippi State |
| 2002 | Seattle Storm | Sue Bird | UConn |
| 2001 | Seattle Storm | Lauren Jackson | N/A Australia |
| 2000 | Cleveland Rockers | Ann Wauters | N/A France |
| 1999 | Washington Mystics | Chamique Holdsclaw | Tennessee |
| 1998 | Utah Starzz | Margo Dydek | N/A Poland |
| 1997 | Houston Comets | Tina Thompson | Southern California |
