WNBA: Eight of the perfect gamers to know from the 2026 WNBA Draft class

With the 2025 WNBA Draft formally within the books, we will now begin wanting ahead to…the 2026 WNBA Draft?

Okay, so perhaps that’s just a little untimely. Not many followers begin eager about subsequent yr’s draft instantly after the present yr’s draft ends.

Any WNBA coach or normal supervisor will inform you that drafting is a year-round course of, although. League scouts don’t solely take a look at what’s instantly in entrance of them; they take note of gamers all throughout the nation, in several courses, and even worldwide gamers who aren’t but draft-eligible, watching intently for indicators of development and contemplating what issues may appear to be the following time they’re on the clock.

No, this isn’t a mock draft. The WNBA season hasn’t even began but, and quite a bit can occur in a yr. But it surely’s protected to say that there are a handful of gamers which are sure to be drafted in 2026, it doesn’t matter what occurs between at times. So, in the event you’re into wanting forward (approach, approach forward) to future WNBA drafts, listed here are some names you’ll wish to be careful for.

Olivia Miles (TCU)

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament - Second Round - Notre Dame — After proving to be one of many nation’s high level guards at Notre Dame, Olivia Miles will end her collegiate profession at TCU.

Miles shocked the basketball world when she introduced that she’d not solely be forgoing the 2025 WNBA Draft to remain in class, however that she’d even be transferring from Notre Dame, the place she had grown into one of many nation’s few actually elite level guards. Miles was nearly assured to be chosen in draft lottery vary had she entered the 2025 draft, and that gained’t change for 2026. This time round, there’s even an opportunity she will get chosen No. 1 total.

Together with her superior court docket imaginative and prescient and playmaking capacity, Miles will immediately change into TCU’s focus as head coach Mark Campbell tries to proceed this system’s historic ascent whereas navigating the lack of his high three scorers (Hailey Van Lith, Sedona Prince and Madison Conner) from final season. Campbell nonetheless has quite a lot of work to do there, however based mostly on what we’ve seen from him to this point, he is aware of tips on how to get essentially the most out of his lead guards. Miles should not have any drawback repeating her statistical averages from final season (15.4 factors, 5.6 rebounds and 5.8 assists per recreation) for her new crew, and as of proper now, she’s the highest level guard within the 2026 WNBA Draft class.

Lauren Betts (UCLA)

NCAA BASKETBALL: APR 04 Div I Women’s Championship Final Four - UConn vs UCLA — Lauren Betts: a beast within the low submit.

UCLA earned the highest total seed within the 2025 NCAA Match with a gifted and well-rounded roster, however it was apparent to anybody watching that Betts was the one participant who made that Bruins crew what it was. At 6-foot-7, Betts is among the most bodily imposing gamers within the nation, and it’s nearly unattainable to maintain her from burying defenders within the paint. She’s coordinated for her dimension, too. Betts shot 64.8 % from the sector as a junior largely as a result of capacity to complete with both hand. The two.9 blocks she averaged additionally showcased impeccable anticipation and timing.

As Betts begins her senior marketing campaign, maybe the most important query regarding her draft inventory is simply how invaluable a participant of her archetype will be within the WNBA. There aren’t many groups that run their offense primarily via the submit, and for all her expertise, Betts will most likely be a one-position participant as a professional. If she retains taking part in like she has in her final two seasons at UCLA, although, there shall be only a few gamers drafted earlier than her—if any in any respect.

Ta’Niya Latson (South Carolina)

Florida State v Notre Dame — Ta’Niya Latson’s pace with the basketball and total scoring capacity shall be enormous for South Carolina.

Latson has been one of the vital prolific scorers within the nation since her very first collegiate recreation, and she or he most lately led Division I in scoring (25.2 factors per recreation) as a junior. The high-octane combo guard is sort of unattainable to maintain out of the paint, having gone to the free throw line 10 or extra instances on 19 events all through her profession, and she or he’s a menace to drag up from mid- and long-range, too, making her one of the vital troublesome defensive assignments within the nation.

After three years of personifying Florida State’s offense-first, offense-second strategy, Latson will now be tasked with main a South Carolina program that has championship expectations. It’s an ideal marriage of talent and wish: The Gamecocks get the go-to perimeter scorer they lacked throughout their 2025 NCAA Match run, whereas Latson is bound to learn from Daybreak Staley’s teaching, particularly inside South Carolina’s stout defensive infrastructure. Latson might not put up the person numbers we’re used to seeing in her remaining season, however by the point the 2026 WNBA Draft rolls round, she’ll doubtless have change into a greater participant.

Awa Fam (Spain)

FIBA U19 Women’s Basketball World Cup 2023 — Awa Fam could also be younger, however she already has loads of skilled expertise.

There’s quite a bit to contemplate when evaluating and drafting worldwide prospects (particularly for a way-too-early draft primer!), however it’s not a lot of a stretch to say that Fam shall be one of many largest skills within the 2026 draft class, no matter nationality. At the moment simply 18 years previous, Fam’s recreation is polished far past anybody else her age; she already boasts a robust low-post repertoire and ending capacity, as effectively a outstanding knack for locating chopping teammates from the highest of the important thing.

Most worldwide draft prospects are regarded as “stash” prospects, or gamers who WNBA groups choose realizing full effectively they gained’t be capable of play in the US immediately. Fam is totally different. She’s already had an excellent quantity {of professional} expertise, together with EuroCup Girls and EuroLeague Girls relationship way back to 2021, and most lately logged starter’s minutes for the Spanish senior nationwide crew within the 2025 Girls’s EuroBasket Qualifiers. By this time subsequent yr, Fam shall be among the many largest names within the 2026 draft class.

Azzi Fudd (UConn)

Creighton v Connecticut — Azzi Fudd’s jumpshot: one of many prettiest sights in faculty basketball.

Like Miles, Fudd selected to make use of her further season of NCAA eligibility somewhat than enter the 2025 WNBA Draft. She’s recent off an NCAA Championship with the Huskies, and much more importantly for her draft inventory, she’s fully wholesome, which is one thing we haven’t been capable of say in years.

Fudd will at all times be best-known for her taking pictures capacity, and rightfully so—her jumpshot is flawless, mechanically talking, and she or he drained 43.6 % of her 3-point makes an attempt as a senior. She’s greater than a shooter, although, as she reminded nationally-televised audiences in the course of the 2025 NCAA Match, when she racked up 18 steals in six video games. Fudd’s basketball pedigree was sufficient to maintain her in draft conversations whereas she was battling a myriad of accidents earlier in her profession, and if she will be able to keep on the court docket in her fifth yr, she’ll be a shoo-in first-round draft choose in 2026.

Flau’jae Johnson (LSU)

LSU v South Carolina — Flau’jae Johnson is a big-time participant, and she or he’s solely going to get larger.

There have been rumors that Johnson would skip her senior season to enter the 2025 WNBA Draft, however she finally selected to remain in class for yet one more yr. Johnson may be essentially the most instantly-recognizable identify in ladies’s faculty basketball in the meanwhile, and her star will proceed to rise as she will get talked about as a possible lottery choose in 2026.

As Johnson has grown at LSU, she’s taken on an increasing number of of an offensive function, most lately averaging a team-high 18.6 factors per recreation as a junior. She’s an explosive athlete who repeatedly makes huge performs on each ends of the court docket, and her nostril for the basketball has led to at the very least two offensive rebounds per recreation in every of her three collegiate seasons. With Mikaylah Williams (17.3 factors and three.4 assists per recreation as a sophomore) sharing the backcourt, Johnson most likely gained’t have to hold LSU in her senior season, however it wouldn’t be a shock to see her counting stats take one other soar, both.

Cotie McMahon (Ole Miss)

Bay Area Women’s Classic: Ohio State v Stanford — Cotie McMahon’s bodily fashion of play appears tailored for Ole Miss.

After three productive seasons at Ohio State that earned her a pair of All-Massive Ten First Staff honors, McMahon will end her NCAA profession at Ole Miss. She joins a Rebels program that has change into identified for its protection, and based mostly on that alone, there’s quite a bit to love in regards to the match; McMahon is an exceptionally robust wing participant who performs a relentless and bodily fashion of basketball, which is bound to align with the tradition Ole Miss head coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin has created.

There’s no query that McMahon has a WNBA construct, and she or he confirmed essential enchancment in her 3-point taking pictures as a junior, connecting on 38.6 % of her 3.1 makes an attempt per recreation (each career-bests). Her 2-point scoring slipped to only 45.1 %, nevertheless, and her total ground recreation appeared to plateau in an Ohio State system that tends to let its gamers function freely. Ought to McMahon present development at Ole Miss, she has the potential to be picked within the late first spherical of the 2026 draft, so the event of her intangibles shall be one thing to look at this winter.

Serah Williams (switch portal)

USC v Wisconsin — Serah Williams has gone toe-to-toe with a few of the greatest frontcourt gamers within the nation and has the numbers to again it up.

For many groups within the Massive Ten, a participant averaging 19.2 factors, 9.8 rebounds and a pair of.3 blocks per recreation could be a giant deal—and that’s to not say that Williams isn’t. However Wisconsin is much from a ladies’s basketball powerhouse, and for 3 years Williams has flown beneath the radar as a gifted middle whose particular person numbers have been diminished by the information of the groups that she’s performed for.

Hopefully for Williams, that gained’t be the case subsequent season. The 6-foot-4 ahead entered the switch portal final month and, whereas she has but to decide on her subsequent faculty, it’s protected to imagine that she’ll wish to go to a program that has an opportunity at competing for a convention title. As for Williams herself, going to a stronger crew might imply that she gained’t be the point of interest like she was at Wisconsin, but when meaning she’ll draw extra consideration as a WNBA Draft prospect, will probably be effectively value it.

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