WALDRON GRAIN & FUEL

04/13 19:04 CDT Dallas Wings select Azzi Fudd of UConn No. 1 in WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting Dallas Wings select Azzi Fudd of UConn No. 1 in WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) --- Azzi Fudd is on her way to Dallas as the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft with a $500,000 payday waiting for the former UConn star. Fudd will pair again with former Huskies teammate Paige Bueckers, who was the Wings' top pick last year. Bueckers --- who along with Fudd gave UConn a record seven No. 1 selections --- was in attendance at the draft along with Fudd's Huskies teammates. "I'm excited to play again with Paige, she's an incredible player," Fudd said. UCLA stars Lauren Betts and Gabriela Jaquez went in the top five, a little over a week after leading the Bruins to their first NCAA championship. Their teammate, Kiki Rice, went sixth to Toronto, the first pick for the expansion franchise. The Tempo chose to have the higher pick in the college draft after winning a coin toss, giving the Portland Fire the top choice in the expansion draft earlier this month. UCLA matched UConn's record of having four players drafted in the first round, a mark the Huskies set in 2002, when Angela Dugalic went ninth to Washington, teaming her again with Betts. The Bruins also could top Tennessee (1997, 2008), Notre Dame (2019) and South Carolina (2023), which all had five players drafted in total. The new collective bargaining agreement that was ratified last month gave huge pay raises to rookies. Fudd will make nearly seven-times what Bueckers earned last season as the top choice. The No. 2 and No. 3 picks will get $466,913 and $436,016, respectively. Second- and third-round picks will make $270,000 --- which is more than the previous maximum salary in the old CBA. Minnesota took Olivia Miles of TCU with the No. 2 pick. Miles decided to stay in college last season instead of enter the WNBA draft. She transferred from Notre Dame to the Horned Frogs. She helped the team reach the Elite Eight for the second consecutive year. "Deep breath that's why I got emotional," Miles said of finishing her journey. "It's finally here, finally heard my name. This is what this was for." After Seattle took Spain center Awa Fam Thiam at No. 3, Washington selected the 6-foot-7 Betts before the Chicago Sky followed with Jaquez. Portland took Spanish guard Iyana Martin Carrion with its first-ever pick. Flau'jae Johnson of LSU went next to the Golden State Valkyries. ___ AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball