(Photo credit score: Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images)
Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 decide of the 2026 WNBA Draft, has chosen to play her offseason basketball with Project B as a substitute of Unrivaled, she confirmed Friday.
Fudd, chosen by the Dallas Wings, is probably the most outstanding participant to signal with Project B, a world basketball startup that organizers plan to debut in December. It has match play deliberate within the Americas, Europe and Asia.
The 23-year-old guard posted a video to her Instagram account on Friday displaying her strolling with varied outstanding areas all over the world as her backdrop.
Project B is a 5-on-5 league. Unrivaled is a 3-on-3 league primarily based in South Florida.
Unrivaled was based by Fudd’s fellow UConn alums, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, to present ladies an choice to enjoying abroad within the WNBA offseason. It will start its third season in January.
Project B was conceived in 2023 by tech executives Grady Burnett and Geoff Prentice. Alana Beard is the chief basketball officer with athletes Steve Young, Candace Parker, Sloane Stephens and Novak Djokovic among the many traders and advisors.
‘Basketball has all the time been world to me,’ Fudd mentioned in a press release offered to The Athletic by Project B. ‘It’s given me the chance to see the world, join with individuals from completely different cultures and go locations I by no means imagined. That’s why I’ve all the time dreamed of enjoying overseas. Project B brings gamers and followers from all over the place collectively and (I) cannot wait to get on the market.’
Beard informed The Athletic that the signing of Fudd — a 2026 All-American who received the 2025 nationwide championship with the Huskies — is important.
‘The undeniable fact that Azzi determined to hitch Project B was some of the phenomenal experiences of this course of,’ Beard mentioned.
WNBA gamers Nneka Ogwumike, Kamilla Cardoso, Sophie Cunningham, Alyssa Thomas, Jewell Loyd, Jonquel Jones and rookie Awa Fam have already got signed on to Project B.
It was believed Fudd would be a part of Unrivaled as a result of she was a part of the league’s NIL initiative whereas a UConn scholar.
Plans name for Project B to herald 66 gamers — 11 groups of six gamers every — who will play a complete of seven two-week tournaments. Tokyo and Valencia, Spain, already are on board as two host cities.
–Field Level Media