Azzi Fudd, a rookie with the Dallas Wings and former national champion at UConn, has become the latest and most notable WNBA player to sign with Project B, a new global basketball league that plans to launch its first season from December through April 2027.
Her signing is a significant boon for the league, which has slowly dispersed information about its roster and schedule plans. Project B declined to share the terms of Fudd’s deal.
Fudd will join other WNBA players Nneka Ogwumike, Alyssa Thomas, Jewell Loyd, Jonquel Jones, Kelsey Mitchell, Kamilla Cardoso, Sophie Cunningham, Janelle Salaün, Justė Jocytė, and fellow rookie Awa Fam.
“Basketball has always been global to me,” Fudd said in a statement provided by Project B. “It’s given me the opportunity to see the world, connect with people from different cultures and go places I never imagined. That’s why I’ve always dreamed of playing abroad. Project B brings players and fans from everywhere together and (I) can’t wait to get out there.”
Project B will feature six teams with 11 players and compete in seven two-week tournaments across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Valencia, Spain, and Tokyo have already been announced as two host cities. Host Broadcast Services, the broadcaster of the FIBA World Cup, will be the league’s production partner and plans to stream all games globally.
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Project B — which was founded in 2023 by former WNBA star Alana Beard, former Google and Facebook executive Grady Burnett and Skype co-founder Geoff Prentice — billed itself as a league that would pay women more than $1 million. This spring, the WNBA codified a historic collective bargaining agreement, which also has star players earning salaries of more than $1 million for the first time in U.S. professional women’s basketball history.
How WNBA players spend their offseasons is evolving as pay and options increase.
Many notable stars, including Fudd’s Wings and UConn teammate Paige Bueckers, have spent their recent offseasons playing for Unrivaled, a 3×3 league in Miami founded by WNBA players Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart as an alternative to competing overseas. When Unrivaled launched two seasons ago, it claimed to be the highest-paying women’s professional league in the U.S.
Fudd was the No. 1 pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft after a five-year career at UConn, which included an NCAA championship in 2025. She was a prolific scorer for the Huskies, averaging 17.3 points per game while shooting 48.1 percent from the field, including 44.7 percent on 3-pointers. With the Wings, Fudd has begun to find her rhythm in June, starting the last eight games after coming off the bench to begin her rookie season. She’s averaging 12.7 points while shooting 50.7 percent from the field.
Beard is Project B’s chief basketball officer. Notable investors and advisors include Candace Parker, Steve Young, Novak Djokovic and Sloane Stephens.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Dallas Wings, WNBA
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