To no one’s surprise, University of Connecticut’s star and former AP Player of the Year Paige Bueckers went number one overall in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
The Dallas Wings now have their star player and will try to bounce back this upcoming season after only getting nine wins in 40 games last season.
Two other former UConn players were drafted as well, Kaitlyn Chen (number 30 pick) and Aubrey Griffin (number 37 pick) who both were drafted in the third round. With there only being 38 picks in the WNBA Draft, both players, especially Griffin, barely made the cut.
“I think two teams or one team would be genius to add Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin to their teams so I think they should get drafted tonight,” Bueckers said in an interview after she was picked by the Wings.
Sure enough, both of their names were announced.
Both Chen and Griffin have fantastic background stories leading up to hearing their names called on draft night.
Chen, who played for Princeton University her first three years in college, averaged around 16 points per game her sophomore and junior seasons. However, she struggled to make it past the first round in the NCAA March Madness Tournament her junior year, let alone make the tournament her other two years at the institution.
Chen decided to enter the transfer portal for her last year of eligibility, where she made the no-doubt move to UConn. While Chen’s points per game were the lowest of her college career, she was the sure-fire point guard of the championship Husky team.
Chen’s role at UConn was the first time of her basketball career where she wasn’t number one or two on her team, but she embraced this role, helping UConn with their success. This success has now led her as a new member of the inaugural Golden State Valkyries.
Griffin was a UConn player her entire five-year career but has had multiple injury battles. Griffin has dealt with a season-ending back injury, along with two ACL injuries during her time at UConn. In her junior year after missing the entire season before with a back injury, she averaged 11 and a half points per game and around six and a half rebounds per game.
Her senior and redshirt senior seasons would be plagued by the ACL injuries, with her only playing 14 games two seasons ago and 16 games last season.
Griffin had the worst statistical season of her career last season, only averaging around four points and about three rebounds per game. Despite this, Griffin’s hopes of making the WNBA never dwindled.
Griffin did not want to be the only member of her family, both of her brothers, AJ and Alan, had great college careers and careers in the NBA or the NBA G League.
Her dad, Adrian, played in the NBA nine seasons and coached the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks two seasons ago. Griffin didn’t end the family streak, joining the Minnesota Lynx, led by former UConn player Napheesa Collier, the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year.
“Honestly Coach Geno (Auriemma) prepared me for anything, literally,” Griffin said to Connecticut Insider. “I’m pretty confident I can handle anything.”
Other notable players drafted include exciting prospect Dominique Malonga, who was drafted second overall to the Seattle Storm. Malonga, the six-foot six-inch center from France, is only 19-years-old and is labeled as “one of the most unique prospects the league has ever seen,” according to ESPN. Her sheer athleticism at her size and ability to dunk with ease give the Storm a player to be really excited about for the extended future.
Malonga wasn’t the only international player to be drafted early, with Juste Jocyte from Lithuania being drafted fifth overall by the Golden State Valkyries. Jocyte is also 19-years-old and will be joining Chen on the new west-coast team.
Kiki Iriafen, the former USC player who played against the Huskies in the 2025 NCAA March Madness Tournament, was drafted fourth overall to the Washington Mystics. The Mystics also drafted Notre Dame’s Sonia Citron with the third overall pick and Kentucky’s Georgia Amoore with the sixth overall pick.
A draft class of former UConn players, unique players from Europe and other stars from college basketball brings fans excitement about this rookie class in the upcoming WNBA season.
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