Connecticut Sun select UConn women’s basketball center Serah Williams with No. 33 pick in WNBA Draft

NEW YORK — After playing a single season with the UConn women’s basketball team, center Serah Williams isn’t leaving Connecticut just yet.

Williams was selected with the No. 33 overall pick in the third round ofthe 2026 WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun on Monday night. She became the 52nd player in UConn history drafted to the WNBA and the third Husky selected by the Sun, joining Tina Charles in 2010 and Morgan Tuck in 2016. Tuck is now Connecticut’s general manager.

Williams attended the draft in person at The Shed in Manhattan to support Huskies teammate Azzi Fudd, who went No. 1 overall to the Dallas Wings, but the 6-foot-4 center got to have her own moment in the spotlight when she was drafted out of the audience surrounded by UConn’s entire 2025-26 roster. UConn has had at least two players picked in every draft since 2021.

Williams played the first three years of her college career at Wisconsin before transferring to the Huskies for 2025-26. She was two-time first team All-Big Ten selection with the Badgers and was named Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year in 2024.

UConn star Azzi Fudd picked No. 1 in WNBA Draft, reunites with Paige Bueckers on Dallas Wings

Williams had a challenging transition to UConn playing a system that was dramatically different from the one she was used to at Wisconsin. She went from averaging 15.1 field goal attempts in 32 minutes per game to 4.8 shots in 17.4 minutes with the Huskies, and her production dropped significantly as a result. She had her most efficient season ever shooting 58.8% from the field and was a reliable defensive presence averaging 1.3 blocks, but she logged just 6.7 points and 4.4 rebounds per game.

Still, coming out of Geno Auriemma’s legendary program often translates to success as a pro. UConn has signed just five transfers since the transfer portal was established in 2019, and all three graduates before Williams have gone on to make WNBA rosters. Fairfield transfer Lou Lopez-Senechal went No. 5 to the Dallas Wings in 2022, and Ohio State transfer Dorka Juhasz was the Minnesota Lynx’s second-round pick that year. Both international players opted to remain overseas in 2025 but could return to the WNBA this season. Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen was selected in the third round of the 2025 draft by Golden State Valkyries, and after getting waived during training camp, she returned to the team in June and appeared in 24 games. Chen re-signed with the Valkyries on a training camp contract for 2026.

It’s historically uncommon for late-round picks to make final rosters in the WNBA, but there are more available spots this season than ever before. In addition to the two incoming expansion teams, the new collective bargaining agreement requires that every team carry at least 12 players, and each franchise can roster two “development players” who will not count against the salary cap and can appear in up to 12 games. At any time, development players can be converted to fully-rostered if the team has need.

Williams joins a pair of former UConn standouts in Connecticut in center Olivia Nelson-Ododa and forward Aaliyah Edwards. She’ll also have the opportunity to learn from a legendary veteran in 10-time All-Star center Brittney Griner, who signed with the Sun this week as a free agent.

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