The 2025 WNBA draft got underway on Monday with no surprises at the start, as the Dallas Wings selected Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers with the first overall pick.

Bueckers was the overwhelming favourite to go No. 1 overall after she capped a prolific collegiate career by leading UConn to its first NCAA national title since 2016 earlier this month. The three-time All-American and Big East Player of the Year averaged 19.8 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 42.3 per cent from 3-point range in 123 career games with the Huskies, and ranks third on the storied program's career scoring list with 2,439 points.

The 23-year-old Bueckers is the sixth UConn player to be taken with the first overall pick, the most of any school, and the first since current New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart in 2016.  Four of the five previous Huskies to be selected No. 1 - Stewart, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and Maya Moore - went on to win the WNBA Most Valuable Player award at least once during their careers.

Bueckers is the second No. 1 overall choice in Wings' history and is universally regarded as a franchise-altering talent, something Dallas is in sore need of after finishing the 2024 season with a 9-31 record and the team's lowest winning percentage since it relocated from Tulsa to Texas in 2016. 

With the 1st pick of the WNBA Draft, the @DallasWings select Paige Bueckers!

2025 #WNBADraft presented by @Statefarm LIVE on ESPN pic.twitter.com/hTx1T2Cnoi

— WNBA (@WNBA) April 14, 2025

The Wings whiffed on their previous attempt at picking No. 1 when they took University of Texas center Charli Collier in 2021. Collier played in just 45 games for Dallas before being waived during the 2022 season and is currently playing professionally in Australia. 

The Seattle Storm hold the No. 2 pick and will be followed by the Washington Mystics, who also own the draft's fourth and sixth selections. At No. 5, the expansion Golden State Valkyries are scheduled to make their first draft pick in franchise history.