Napheesa Collier also featured prominently in the league’s general manager survey.
14 former UConn women’s basketball players made opening day WNBA rosters ahead of the 2025 WNBA season.
The local Connecticut Sun lead the way with three Huskies: Tina Charles, Bria Hartley and Olivia Nelson-Ododa. The Chicago Sky have two with Moriah Jefferson and Kia Nurse, as do the Washington Mystics with Stef Dolson and Aaliyah Edwards.
Eight other teams have at least one former UConn player.
Paige Bueckers, the top overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, will begin her rookie campaign with the Dallas Wings. Breanna Stewart will try to repeat with the New York Liberty while Napheesa Collier will go for revenge with the Minnesota Lynx after coming up short in last year’s WNBA Finals. Tiffany Hayes will be the first Husky to suit up for the expansion Golden State Valkyries while Azura Stevens is set for her second season with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Meanwhile, Kiah Stokes and the Las Vegas Aces will aim to get back atop the league while Gabby Williams will begin her first full season in the WNBA since 2022 with the Seattle Storm.
Three others are currently recovering from injury with their respective franchises. Katie Lou Samuelson and Nika Mühl are both working back from torn ACLs in Seattle while Aubrey Griffin is coming off arthroscopic knee surgery with the Lynx.
The Atlanta Dream, Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury are the only three teams without a UConn player. Anna Makurat spent training camp with the Mercury but ultimately didn’t make the final cut. Kaitlyn Chen (Valkyries) and Christyn Williams (Lynx) were both waived while Crystal Dangerfield remains a free agent.
Elsewhere, both Lou Lopez Sénéchal (Dallas) and Dorka Juhász (Minnesota) will both sit out the 2025 season after playing in Europe during the offseason.
Also on Thursday, the WNBA released its annual general manager survey — which featured plenty of love for Collier.
The Lynx were picked by 60 percent of GMs to win the league while 67 percent expect Collier to win MVP. She was tabbed as the top defender with 33 percent of the vote, then tied A’ja Wilson in two different categories: Best forward (33 percent each) and best leader (42 percent each).
Collier also earned recognition as a player to start a franchise with, a player that forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments, best interior defender, most athletic, best basketball IQ and a player to take the final shot.
As for other Huskies, Bueckers is the heavy favorite for rookie of the year with 75 percent of the vote, though only 40 percent of GMs think she’ll be the best player from this rookie class in five years. Instead, Dominique Malonga got the nod with 60 percent of the vote.
Stewart featured in a player that forces opposing coaches to make the most adjustments, best forward, best defender, best leader, most versatile, best basketball IQ and a player to take the final shot. The only other UConn player included was Williams, who received nods for breakout potential and most versatile.
The 2025 WNBA season kicks off this weekend.