The NCAA Women's Basketball Stars You Need to Know Before the 2026 WNBA Draft
· Yahoo Sports
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Elsa/Getty ImagesJust a week after the NCAA championship game, outgoing seniors will have to brush off March Madness and head to New York City for the 2026 WNBA draft. For the past few years, star-studded rookie classes have sparked a massive spike in viewership for the league and women's sports as a whole. But their impact goes far beyond social media followings, signature shoe deals, and hype. From Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese in 2024 to Paige Bueckers in 2025, entire teams are being built around some of the youngest members of the W.
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This year's top draft prospects are no different. Here are the four players you absolutely need to know going into the WNBA draft, as they will inevitably be at the center of this season's passionate Rookie of the Year debates.
Azzi Fudd, UConn Guard
Connecticut v VillanovaAzzi Fudd, #31 on the UConn Huskies: She averages 17.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists, per ESPN.Bill Streicher/Getty ImagesAzzi Fudd is an unparalleled force in women's college basketball. When she's not working towards her second consecutive championship ring, the UConn star is busy scoring high profile NIL deals, shooting fashion campaigns with Travis Kelce, and hosting her own podcast, Fudd Around and Find Out. Despite her busy schedule, Fudd remains a key figure on her undefeated team, boasting a very pretty three-point shot that helped see UConn through to the final four. During their Sweet 16 game against North Carolina, Fudd scored eight of those beauties, ultimately racking up 34 points.
And yet, Fudd's not too focused on the numbers and the accolades. “I want my legacy to be about the kind of the person I was on and off the court,” she told Glamour in August 2025. “I was a great teammate, a great person that wasn’t one-sided, one-dimensional.”
Given that she's also strong on defense, the well-rounded guard is expected to go number one in the 2026 WNBA draft, which could take her to the Dallas Wings to play alongside her girlfriend and former UConn teammate Paige Bueckers. In August, Fudd told Glamour would be happy to play with or against Bueckers this summer, though she's not quite sure what her strategy would be if they have to go head-to-head.
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SportsAzzi Fudd Doesn’t Know How She’d Play Against Paige Bueckers: ‘There’s No Stopping Her’The UConn champion talks to *Glamour* about stealing clothes from Paige Bueckers and their future team-up—or face-off—in the WNBA.Lauren Betts, UCLA Center
Oregon v UCLALauren Betts, #51 of the UCLA Bruins: Averages 17.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, per ESPN.Jordan Teller/ISI Photos/Getty ImagesLauren Betts has one of the most inspiring stories in the NCAA right now. Aside from her impressive and well-rounded stats, the senior is setting an example for young athletes by opening up her struggles with depression, high expectations, and body image. In a personal essay for the Players' Tribune titled, “I Want to Be Here,” Betts revealed she checked herself into UCLA hospital during her sophomore year, taking time away from her team to focus on her mental health.
“Coming back and being embraced by my UCLA teammates and coaches, that was like a miracle,” she wrote in March. “Seeing that my coaches still had love for me, even though I hadn’t been playing basketball, that was really, really important to me. It was like an epiphany: These people love me for me, not because of what I produce on the court. They don’t care about how many points I’m scoring. They care about me because I’m Lauren, and I’m their friend.”
Women's professional sports can never have too many mental health advocates, and Lauren Betts is joining an elite squad of inspirational figures like Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka, and Alysa Liu.
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SportsNCAA Women’s Basketball 2026: How to Watch the Final Four and Championship GamesThe NCAA semifinals kick off with a championship-level rematch between UConn and South Carolina.Olivia Miles, TCU Guard
Virginia v TCUOlivia Miles, #5 of the TCU Horned Frogs: Averages 19.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.6 assists, per ESPN.Thien-An Truong/Getty ImagesAlthough an ACL tear halted her 2023-2024 season, Miles was on fire in 2025, scoring a 20-point double-double in her first game back and becoming the season’s only player with three triple-doubles. She was practically a shoo-in to go number two in the WNBA draft but decided to enter the transfer portal for one more shot at a national championship.
The controversial move took her from Notre Dame to Texas Christian University, where she brought her team all the way to the Elite Eight before a devastating loss to South Carolina. “I knew I needed one more year to be ready,” she said of her decision during a recent press conference. And while Miles did not get the championship ring she wanted, she says she got her "joy back" and is able to "love basketball again."
Now, Miles says she's ready for the WNBA—and the W is surely excited to have her, considering she somehow put up even stronger stats than last year. Plus, with the new increases to the WNBA rookie contracts, holding out seems to have worked in her favor.
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SportsThe WNBA Enters a Historic New Era With Their Tentative Collective Bargaining AgreementWNBA players have been fighting for fair pay—here’s what they’re set to gain from their new CBA.Flau'jae Johnson, LSU Guard
Tennessee v LSUFlau’jae Johnson, #4 of the LSU Tigers: She averages 14.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, per ESPN.Tyler Kaufman/Getty ImagesWhile Flau'jae Johnson is about to join a slew of WNBA players that host their own podcasts, she's in a league of her own when it comes to her other side-hustle. Following in the footsteps of her late father Camoflauge, Johnson has made a big name for herself as a rapper signed to Jay-Z's label Roc Nation. Her double-life often makes it's way into her lyrics and she even referenced her former rival and fellow three-point shooter Caitlin Clark in her 2025 track, “Help Me.”
Fresh off winning gold with USA Basketball at the FIBA Women’s AmeriCup in July 2025, Johnson's senior year stats took a bit of a dip but she still earned a spot on the 2026 John R. Wooden All-America team. “This year I've been working on bringing other people with me and really trying to up everybody else's level of mindset, confidence, and competition,” she recently told FIBA of her teammates at LSU. "I believe that's probably the most important thing that I've done…I'm just excited that I get to be a leader and kind of guide them. It's been beautiful.”
With the biggest social media following of any current college basketball player (male or female), Johnson is poised to be one of the most talked-about figures in the WNBA. More importantly, she has the skills to back it up.
How and when to watch Azzi Fudd and Lauren Betts in the 2026 Final Four
On April 3, the NCAA semifinals kick off with a rematch between UConn and South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET. Right after that, the UCLA Bruins take on the Texas Longhorns at 9:30 p.m. ET. Depending on how those games go, we could see Azzi Fudd take on Lauren Betts in the championship game on April 5.
The Final Four games will air on ESPN, while the championship game will air on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET. All three games will be available to stream on ESPN.com, the ESPN app, and Fubo.
Originally Appeared on Glamour