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 11-time national championship-winning program. The Huskies have had 25 first round picks, which is by far the most in the country.
In the 2022 WNBA draft, the Atlanta Dream selected Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard No. 1 overall.
Here are the colleges with the most WNBA first-round draft picks (through 2022):
| RANK | COLLEGE | FIRST ROUND PICKS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn | 25 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 19 |
| 3 | Stanford | 13 |
| 4 | Duke | 11 |
| 4 | Baylor | 11 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 10 |
| 7 | South Carolina | 9 |
| 7 | North Carolina | 9 |
| 9 | Georgia | 8 |
| 9 | Maryland | 8 |
Do you see the trend with these particular schools? These 10 schools have combined for 31 national championships, most recently South Carolina in 2022.
Since 1997, 24 of the 27 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 Connecticut, which has five.
UConn’s five 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) and Breanna Stewart (2016, Seattle Storm).
In all, 16 schools have had at least one No. 1 pick taken, with four having more than one.
Here’s are the colleges with the most overall WNBA No. 1 picks:
| RANK | COLLEGE | NO. 1 OVERALL PICKS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UConn | 5 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 2 |
| 2 | Stanford | 2 |
| 2 | Tennessee | 2 |
