While hundreds of elite former women’s college basketball stars have heard their names called since the first WNBA draft in 1997, one program stands above the rest on the list of schools that have produced the most first-round draft picks. That’s UConn, the 12-time national championship-winning program. The Huskies have had 29 first-round picks, which is by far the most in the country.
In the 2026 WNBA draft, the Dallas Wings selected UConn’s Azzi Fudd as the No. 1 overall.
Here are the colleges with the most WNBA first-round draft picks (through 2026):
| RANK | COLLEGE | FIRST ROUND PICKS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn | 29 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 21 |
| 3 | Stanford | 15 |
| 4 | South Carolina | 15 |
| 5 | Duke | 12 |
| 6 | UCLA | 11 |
| 6 | Baylor | 11 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 11 |
| 7 | Maryland | 10 |
| 8 | North Carolina | 9 |
| 8 | LSU | 9 |
| 9 | Georgia | 8 |
Do you see the trend with these particular schools? These 12 schools have combined for 35 national championships.
Since 1997, 27 of the 30 top overall picks came from NCAA Division I schools. The remaining three came from overseas.
No school has produced more No. 1 overall picks than UConn, which has seven.
UConn’s seven No. 1 overall picks are Sue Bird (2002, Seattle Storm), Diana Taurasi (2004, Phoenix Mercury), Tina Charles (2010, Connecticut Sun), Maya Moore (2011, Minnesota Lynx), Breanna Stewart (2016, Seattle Storm) , Paige Bueckers (2025, Dallas Wings) and Azzi Fudd (2026, Dallas Wing).
In all, 17 schools have had at least one No. 1 pick taken, with five having more than one.
Here are the colleges with the most overall WNBA No. 1 picks:
| RANK | COLLEGE | NO. 1 OVERALL PICKS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn | 7 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 2 |
| 2 | Stanford | 2 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 2 |
| 2 | South Carolina | 2 |
