The 2025 WNBA Draft is in the books. As expected, UConn star Paige Bueckers went No. 1 overall to the Dallas Wings, while 6-foot-6 French prospect Dominique Malonga was selected second by the Seattle Storm.
For some folks, it’s already time to look into the crystal ball and think about the future. Who is going to be the No. 1 overall pick in 2026?
While we don’t know the draft order yet, we do know a few things about the next draft for the WNBA. For starters, no, USC superstar JuJu Watkins will not be eligible to be drafted because she hasn’t exhausted her eligibility, nor turns 22-years-old in 2026. Between now and then, the WNBA and its players will negotiate a new CBA, though it’s unclear if draft eligibility rules are on the table.
For now, we’ll proceed assuming that Watkins won’t be eligible. But other star players in the college game, including UCLA’s Lauren Betts, UConn’s Azzi Fudd, Notre Dame’s Olivia Miles and LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson will be. All of those players could have entered the 2025 draft and would have likely been top five picks if they did. Instead, they add to what will be a stacked class that also includes Ta’Niya Latson and Gianna Kneepkens.
Let’s project what the 2026 class might look like.
An asterisk indicates that the player is in the transfer portal and has not yet chosen a new team.
1. Lauren Betts, UCLA
The combination of size and skill that the 6-foot-7 presents will be hard to pass up for whatever WNBA team is picking No. 1 overall in 2026. She had her best season yet as a junior, posting 20.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while shooting 64.8 percent from the floor. A First Team All-American and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Betts’ powered the Bruins to a Big Ten title and their first-ever Final Four appearance.
2. Azzi Fudd, UConn
Fudd has a pure shooting form that has garnered praise from the likes of Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. She finally had a fully healthy season of college basketball this past year, averaging 13.6 points per game while shooting 43.6 percent from 3-point land as she often played the Robin to Paige Bueckers’ Batman for the Huskies. But Fudd had a knack for stepping up in big games, tallying a combined 43 points on 29 shots in Tampa to help UConn win the national title, a performance that earned her the nod of Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four.
3. Olivia Miles, TCU
A wizard with the basketball in her hands, Miles has established herself as one of the best point guards in women’s college basketball over the past few years. She has great court vision, is a crafty finisher, and doesn’t shy away from taking risks. She improved dramatically as a 3-point shooter this past season, raising her success rate by 18 percentage points to 40.6 percent this season. She’ll spend her final season of college ball playing for Mark Campbell at TCU, who has tutored the likes of Sabrina Ionescu and Hailey Van Lith.
4. Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
Latson led the nation in scoring this past season at Florida State, averaging 25.2 points per game on 45.1 percent shooting from the floor. She’s a certified bucket-getter, and now she’s going to South Carolina where she’s expected to grow and improve under the tutelage of Dawn Staley.
5. Gianna Kneepkens, Utah*
The 5-foot-11 guard will play a fifth-year of college ball elsewhere after spending four years at Utah, where she was a career 43.2 percent 3-point shooter over 104 games. For the Utes, Kneepkens was nearly a 50-40-90 player, shooting 49.5 percent from the floor and 86 percent from the charity stripe. She moves well without the ball in her hands and is a deadly shooter coming off screens.
6. Madina Okot, Mississippi State*
Okot was already playing for the Kenyan national team before she stepped foot in the SEC. This past year, her first season in the league, the 6-foot-6 prospect nearly averaged a double-double with 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game while shooting 64.9 percent from the floor, which led the SEC and was fourth nationally. Excelling in the deepest conference in women’s college basketball is a good sign that Okot will be a successful pro.
7. Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
A big guard, Johnson earned All-American honors from the Associated Press and USBWA this past season after averaging 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game for LSU. She continued to improve as a 3-point shooter this season, making 1.4 deep shots per game this season. The dynamic playmaker is a star on and off the court and has everyone’s attention.
8. Ashlon Jackson, Duke
Jackson has improved each year she’s played for Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils. She averaged 12.4 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season while shooting a career-best 37.2 percent from 3-point land. Jackson emerged as a player that could get hot quickly and make a boatload of shots in a short span of time — see her games against N.C. State and Oregon — and became a serviceable defender and reliable playmaker.
9. Janiah Barker, UCLA*
Barker has long been a player that WNBA scouts have been excited about because of her combination of size, athleticism and ability to create shots, but we haven’t seen her put the complete package together on a consistent basis yet in college. She was the best player on a not-so-great Texas A&M team as a freshman and sophomore, then became a sparkplug off the bench for UCLA this past season. She’s back in the transfer portal now, looking for the best fit. If a coach can unlock her potential in her final season of college, she could quickly climb the draft boards.
10. Chloe Kitts, South Carolina
At 6-foot-3 with quick feet and a long wingspan, Kitts has the makings of a prototypical forward in the WNBA. She was arguably South Carolina’s most consistent player in the Gamecocks’ last 11 games of the season, showing off her touch around the rim, ability to block shots and knack for rebounding. She even had 10 assists in a win at Ole Miss. One thing Kitts needs to work on is her shooting from outside the paint.
11. Charlisse Leger-Walker, UCLA
The former Washington State guard missed this past season due to a knee injury, but if she can regain her form from the 2023-24 season — where she averaged 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game, she’ll likely be a first round pick in 2026. Leger-Walker has fantastic court vision, has a great understanding of space on the court and is a superb catch-and-shoot scorer.
12. Serah Williams, Wisconsin*
The 6-foot-4 Williams averaged 19.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per game for a not-very-good Wisconsin team this past season. She’s a great rebounder, a solid rim protector and a consistent around-the-rim scorer. The question is, can she have this same sort of impact for a better team?
13. Ashlyn Watkins, South Carolina
Watkins missed this past season with an injury but has shown in her time at South Carolina that she can be an absolute glass-cleaning tenacious rebounder. We’ve seen Watkins dunk too, and there seems to be untapped potential with her combination of skill, size and athleticism.
14. Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Diana Taurasi believes that Johnson will be a WNBA player, and that should be a good enough assessment for everyone else too.
On the radar: Raegan Beers (Oklahoma), Rori Harmon (Texas), Kiki Rice (UCLA), Cotie McMahon (Ole Miss), Indya Nivar (North Carolina)
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