Full Press Conference: Dallas Wings introduce No. 1 pick Azzi Fudd

[0:00] good morning good morning listen today is a great day as we officially welcome the number one [0:10] overall pick in the 2026 wmba draft az fudge to the wings family and the city of dallas come on [0:22] az's arrival is one more milestone moment for the wings organization during a time of hyper growth [0:29] big wins and signature successes over the past year alone we have welcomed the largest crowd to [0:37] a women's sporting event in the state of state of texas's history broken ground on our new 70 000 [0:45] square foot practice facility averaged over 1.2 million viewers for each of our nationally televised [0:53] broadcast grown our local broadcast audience by over 400 percent and sold wings merchandise [1:02] in all 50 states and 25 countries worldwide we have also significantly grown our corporate [1:10] partnerships business most recently we've had the good fortune of adding highly respected well-known [1:17] national brands to our corporate partnership roster this evolution has been highlighted by [1:22] our recent deals with cvs and now geico which was just finalized on monday i would like yeah i would [1:33] like to acknowledge a few members of the geico leadership team in attendance today including [1:37] jason andru konis geico's richardson campus leader and head of commercial operations kayla hainer geico's [1:45] director of site experience and associate engagement ross feinstein geico senior director of corporate [1:51] communications and their boss the geico geico geico while geico has grown to be one of the nation's [1:59] leading insurance providers the company was actually founded right up the road in fort worth texas in 1936 [2:07] much like the wings geico has been rapidly growing in north texas adding 2500 jobs with community [2:15] involvement and investment being at the center of the company's expansion plans we look forward to working [2:21] with geico in supporting az's transition to dallas and collaborating to making a lax lasting impact [2:27] in the north texas community together thank you jason kayla and ross and the gecko for being here today [2:35] a tip of the hat as well to the hyatt regency for hosting us and most importantly a big thank you [2:40] to our wing staff who worked so hard to pull this important event together in record time [2:46] to az and the fudd family we are thrilled to have you in dallas it is indeed a great day to be a dallas [2:54] wing and az you are now one of us welcome home and go wings thank you gred before we get to the q a [3:08] portion i'm going to turn it over to kurt and he's going to make some opening statements welcome a great [3:13] turnout today so appreciate everybody being out on this really exciting day i also have a couple thank yous [3:20] that i want to share first to our ownership group and bill cameron for the unbelievable support uh in [3:27] this unprecedented time in recent cba it's been a crazy whirlwind for all of us a big thank you to [3:34] greg bibb um as you just heard our ceo and managing partner it's been an incredible first year for me with [3:42] greg and the rise in commitment behind the scenes to allow everything that's coming together and everything [3:48] that you guys are seeing since the moment we secured the number one pick we set out on a plan to be [3:55] deliberate thorough with intention on evaluating where we got to ultimately in picking az fudd we [4:06] traveled all over the world watching this incredible draft class but it all came back always to az words [4:14] that we heard over and over again in the investigation of her was a winner a competitor a hard worker [4:24] obviously the skill set speaks for itself an incredible shooter probably one of the quickest [4:30] releases in the game today a defense a defender with a lot of competitiveness and toughness and [4:37] ultimately all the intangibles that goes along with az in the locker room being unselfish being an [4:44] incredible teammate being a high basketball iq player all pointed us through a very deliberate and [4:50] thorough process back to az fudd and we're so excited that you're joining our family i'm going [4:56] to turn it over to jose to talk a little bit more about our decision to this point um but again az [5:05] and the fudd family welcome to now wings and our new family together thank you kurt and first i want [5:15] to thank our players for being here we had other players that had prior commitments that couldn't [5:21] be here today i want to thank our coaching staff they're going to run out of here as soon as this is [5:26] over to uh to get to player development workouts but um it's an exciting time last week with the [5:35] expansion draft the work that this front office and greg did with free agency culminating on monday night [5:42] to get who we wanted so round of applause for az i think it wasn't a secret after i got hired my [5:51] first trip was the stores and it worked out so i'm glad you're here and i'm looking forward to coaching [5:56] you we're gonna have a great time together thank you we're gonna start with questions in the room [6:05] uh just raise your hand and we'll get a mic over to you we have two mics so um we'll start there we'll [6:09] start start with hawk in the back um on the zoom we'll try to get to you guys too just use the raise [6:13] hand function and we will try to get to you let's start with hawk just the opportunity you're gonna [6:19] have to be with an organization it's got so much going for it right now also you just got finished [6:26] playing a long season you know getting to the national championship game page what did it last [6:30] year what do you know about trying to get ready kind of just turn it around um yeah i mean it's a super [6:42] quick turnaround but i this is the best my body has felt um i'm super excited to be here to finally be [6:49] here to meet some of my teammates to meet the staff um so like you said it's a quick turnaround [6:55] i think just being super intentional uh since the beginning of this past season started with my diet [7:01] with just my regiment with my sleep schedule with everything going on i'm trying to control what i can [7:05] control because i knew that this next year was going to be chaos so i think just continuing being [7:10] disciplined and how i take care of myself to care of my body um but i feel i feel as prepared as i can be [7:16] going to this i'm excited back angle fort worth star telegram uh you know when you came into your [7:33] senior season there was the thought that this was a possibility because of traffic when did you [7:39] realistically think you know november december whenever they this this was going to happen [7:44] that you could be a teammate with page again uh on the professional level my honest answer monday night [7:52] um i mean my mindset this whole past college season was just stay in the present focus on my team [8:01] focus on winning um focus on getting better every single day i knew that if i took care of what i [8:06] needed to in my college season um what was going to happen at the draft was going to happen i was going [8:10] to land where i was meant to be whether that was here with the wings or in a different organization [8:14] so i really trusted that um if i took care of what i needed to every single day in college that [8:19] i would land where i was supposed to be and wherever that looked like whoever that was with [8:23] i was going to be grateful and i couldn't be happier with how that worked out and where i am now [8:32] how you doing ron murray k104 az welcome to dallas a big congratulations for what you have going on [8:39] so what are just some expectations and goals that you have for yourself in your rookie year [8:43] and who are some players that you're looking forward to facing yeah uh first of all thank you [8:48] um i think what i'm most looking forward to is being here getting on the court [8:55] i just got to meet some of my amazing teammates but i can't wait to get on the floor with them [8:59] uh learn from them learn how to play with them uh learn from the coaches um and really just see [9:05] how i can contribute and make this a winning organization as you prepare for your first wmba [9:18] season i'm just curious what are some of the focuses you have in your player development when [9:22] you're on the court um yeah i mean i feel like i have lots of room to grow in every area uh so i'm [9:31] excited to like i said learn from the coaches learn style of play learn how to play with my new teammates [9:37] um and just see what that looks like i know he mentioned defense i'm uh excited to play against [9:43] everyone i mean these are women that i've looked up to and watched play since i was younger so i [9:50] everybody i'm excited to play with my teammates but excited to play against everybody hi az uh welcome to [10:00] dallas uh uconn's had a lot of number one picks i was just wondering what it is about that program that makes [10:05] players so pro ready uh just the standard of excellence that the coaches have and the staff [10:12] has every single day uh whether it's in the weight room in the training room on the court um just the [10:17] level that they the level of expectations they hold you to uh you don't skip reps you do everything with [10:24] purpose with complete discipline um i think that just prepares you for the next level uh it makes it [10:29] easier to transition because you know how to play the game you know how to play with other great players [10:32] hi az congratulations and welcome to dallas um so my question i know we're talking a lot about [10:41] you being on the court which is super exciting but there are so many young girls that are in the sport [10:47] that look up to you so what do you plan to do in dallas um that can help inspire the next generation of [10:55] athletes coming up um well i'm super excited to just be a part of this culture in dallas um whatever that [11:03] looks like um i can't wait to just embrace everything about this city um and in the past [11:09] i've had camp so hopefully i'll be able to do some sort of community outreach um and just be able to [11:15] like have personal interactions with kids with young girls um that's something that i really enjoy so i [11:21] think that's something that will definitely make priority hey az welcome to dallas krista somerville with [11:31] wfaa so there's been a lot of things that went viral since you were picked one of them being that your [11:36] mom was also drafted in the wba can you talk about that bond that you guys share and any advice that [11:43] she's giving to you yeah um my mom is incredible and i'm super lucky to have a mom who has been where [11:50] i've been and growing up has been able to give me such incredible advice and just lead me and inspire me [11:56] every day um so her advice is kind of just to take it all in um to be aggressive to go in be myself [12:02] stay true to who i am thank you great to bring to this team defensively a little bit earlier um yeah [12:15] i mean i think just my willingness to compete i mean i'm going to be playing against the best in [12:21] the world so i know the odds are kind of stacked against me in that sense but uh i'm excited to [12:26] compete i'm excited to kind of just challenge everyone around me and i expect to be challenged back [12:31] kurt and jose are also available yeah seriously ask them something anything kurt what's your favorite [12:39] color okay now going back to hawk jose like oh there we go okay jose like you mentioned a few minutes [12:53] ago the um first trip you took was to stores and what have you learned about az during that time that [12:59] maybe you did not know and as you watched her throughout and obviously talking to people that [13:03] she knows and has played for and played with well me having so so much familiarity with the uconn program [13:12] um her basketball iq her work ethic her being a leader in the locker room um the growth that she's [13:19] made the adversity that she's gone through the resilience so um i think when you look at a roster and [13:26] what we did in free agency and the dynamic guards that we have in this organization she she fits right in [13:33] and she fits a need right she's going to be able to space the floor and i know her willing willingness [13:39] to be coached because the great ones want to be coached um and her being able to also now put the [13:46] ball down on the floor and the growth that she made from last year to this year defensively i mean she [13:51] she just stood out for me and she stood out for our front office and this is what we needed and we're [13:57] fortunate to have the number one pick so we can control that decision jason we'll go right behind you [14:07] daniel steves cw33 kurt i want to ask you this question az i hate to put you on the block but [14:11] i'm going to have you answer it as well you think about the catalysts and the big changes that the [14:16] wmba has seen this offseason syncing that up with the momentum of having the roster that you guys have [14:22] been able to put together now just how much momentum and positivity is there in the organization [14:27] given that timing is everything and az considering you've watched the league grow throughout your entire [14:33] life to be able to join the league now of all time how much more exciting do you think that is [14:38] for you personally with the amount of momentum that the league's got we're really excited obviously [14:48] unprecedented times to go through in such a small window the expansion draft into free agency which is [14:56] continuing um as we speak and then the the amateur draft the other night um the gms around the league [15:06] probably haven't taken a deep breath yet to really appreciate all that's happened and i know i can [15:12] speak that i haven't but the momentum and the excitement of what has happened for our organization [15:20] in these periods is really really positive and we're really excited about it we will tell the story [15:29] when it's appropriate at some point that we had a very very small number of post players that we were [15:35] targeting in free agency and i looked at a couple names every night before i went to bed and thought [15:41] if we could get one at these post players we are trending in the right direction and when we landed the [15:47] two that we targeted you know i can't tell you how excited we were and uh and then to combine that then [15:55] ultimately with the draft to bring in one of the elite guards one of the elite shooters one of the elite [16:00] winners um and our game has coming out of the collegiate level um the momentum is really really soaring and [16:09] we get because of that momentum my phone is ringing from others that we didn't expect to hear from [16:15] so we are really excited um i was just going to say it is such a privilege to be joining the league at this [16:29] time and one that i don't take lightly um i'm like i said honored excited uh blessed to have been picked [16:36] by the wings and to be here now um but i just i'm so excited and so grateful to be here and be a part [16:42] of this league az kevin sharington the dallas morning news uh page announced last year on tick [16:50] tock that y'all were a couple and i'm wondering if that is still the case and if so if y'all have [16:55] talked to any other couples in the league about how they negotiate that dynamic as pro teammates i [17:00] understand why you have to ask that question but we're going to respectfully decline from commenting [17:03] on our players personal lives the next question i had i had the chance to hear from um some of the [17:23] player reps uh neka the president and just to hear from them and um kind of what they went through [17:30] during those negotiations and their experience and their experience previously and kind of their [17:35] reasoning as to why they fought so hard for some of the things they did and that was so enlightening to [17:39] me um i mean being in college like i said i was so focused on where i was where my feet were um so [17:45] i had heard what was going on with the negotiations and what was happening but to hear firsthand everything [17:51] that they were talking about this weekend was incredible and i mean i feel like you've just seen [17:56] people start to bet on women and when you do that i feel like people in the league aren't really [18:02] doing things too much differently like they're being themselves they're playing the game the right way [18:06] um i think when you bet on women you give them a chance um i think the opportunity there's the [18:11] visibility um you see how special we are and so i think the game is like you said at its peak at an [18:19] incredible place but it's not stopping the growth is not stopping um this one's for kurt and then for [18:26] jose kurt for you how much pressure is there on a general manager when you have back-to-back number one [18:34] overall picks and then jose wondering if um in any of your conversations with gino he shared either [18:41] a story that kind of describes or encapsulates ac or if there's any uh intel he gave you on how to [18:48] coach her that you are able to share we're not going to share any of those publicly but we'll have [18:55] some time together to see if how much he uh exaggerated the story which he does at times but what was your [19:05] other question okay yeah i think when you have consecutive number ones the great thing about [19:12] number one is you control it and so the pressure isn't as great as you would think um because you [19:20] truly get to control the process and like many of the gms around the league you take an eyes ears [19:28] numbers approach and you really with intent evaluate with your eyes and you watch and you travel all over [19:35] the world and watch this incredible draft class you listen to what people say um you know with the [19:42] coaches and and opposing teams coaches and everything and then ultimately a huge shout out to our analytic [19:49] department um that then the numbers you know really help round out ultimately the story and how much the [19:59] front offices these days are using analytics so in eyes nears numbers approach takes that pressure off of you [20:06] and also ultimately points you back in the direction of the choice and when you have number one and [20:11] you get to control it uh it's truly special um and the other night was no different we're trying to go [20:17] over to the zoom we'll start with megan hall if megan you can unmute and ask your question hey everyone [20:23] it's my call with usa today sorry y'all i think it's a little out on my end but uh this question is for [20:29] az um az i know it's a little early to think about your legacy potentially the wmba but what are some of the [20:35] ways that which you hope to reinforce that and when your career is all said and done you hope that you [20:39] leave your mark on the league um well i hope my love of the game shows i hope my competitive spirit [20:51] um my work ethic being a great teammate um but i really hope i can just continue to help grow the [20:59] game like we've talked about leave the game in a better place um and continue to aspire and yeah do [21:05] exactly what the vets and everyone before me have done for the next generation hi everyone congratulations [21:14] again um a question for az and for jose um for az both kurt and jose have been very complimentary of [21:20] your defense so i wanted to ask you what you feel is the best aspect of your defense and for jose you [21:25] alluded to monday night uh potential lineups with page az and alrique on the floor together just how do [21:31] you kind of see those three playing and gelling together defensively yeah well i think defense is [21:38] most of the time it's whether you want it or not it's a game of yeah how hard are you willing to [21:43] work um and i've been fortunate to grow up with a coach my dad who was very defense oriented so i know [21:50] where to be uh at the right time the spacing uh so learning that continue to learn that here but it's [21:55] just like i said a game of who wants it more so my comparative spirit i think helps in that but [22:01] i'm going in i've said it a bunch of times today i'm going in ready to compete um i know it's going to be [22:05] a challenge and i expect to be a challenge every single day but i'm looking forward to it go to [22:10] rob on the zoom from the podium finish az welcome to dallas as you begin your professional career [22:18] here with the wings what's your message to long-time wings fans and loyal dallas fans in terms of what [22:23] this year's team can accomplish on the court and what would you tell your younger self about the hard [22:27] work you've accomplished to put forth and make it to the w um i would tell dallas wings fans um i'm super [22:37] excited to be here i can't wait to play i got a chance to go to some games last year so i can't [22:41] wait to actually be on the court and not on the crowd in the crowd with everyone and i can't wait [22:46] to just be a part of that environment that atmosphere um and to my younger self i would say [22:51] i don't know i guess to keep working hard keep believing in myself um yeah i don't know go back [23:02] to nikai's first question for jose oh sorry uh jose you mentioned on monday night just potential [23:10] lineups with az arrique and page on the floor together was curious how you kind of see those [23:15] three gelling on the defensive end we'll find we'll find out we have a lot of players that are [23:21] going to be arriving late to camp and we have 15 practices in 20 days before may 9th and along with [23:29] those 15 practices we have two exhibition games so my staff and i are looking forward to uh to looking [23:36] at everybody at camp and finding uh finding the right lineups that play well together but we have a [23:42] short time to prepare but when you look at those three playing together i know the big concern is [23:47] how are those three gonna play defensively but other teams have to guard those three if they're on the [23:52] floor together at the same time as well so go to sean schultz hi az sean schultz with um w swish [24:02] i was just wondering the city of dallas what are you looking to forward to exploring the most museums [24:08] cafes you know what kind of fun stuff absolutely everything um i think my first stops will definitely be [24:15] barbecue and text mix places i love to eat um but i'm excited to have some time like i said to [24:22] really just learn the city um i was here not too long ago and everyone was talking about the stockyards [24:28] i think right so i apparently need to go visit that um need to go get some i mean i'm wearing a pair of [24:34] cowboy boots but i need to get a hat um i really just want to embrace the culture so i'm looking forward [24:38] to everything excellent good luck thank you time for a couple more jones thanks fam as always jones [24:46] of the league network az your freshman year you played against jose benanez in south florida and i'm [24:52] coming off the the bahamas yeah have you reminded him about that uh performance there and um since geico [25:02] has a partnership now with the wings how did you like how your geico commercial came out to be [25:07] with you lifting weights and having that fun commercial that you did um we actually haven't [25:14] talked about that yet well we'll do that later i'll have to do that later um but yeah my partnership [25:19] with geico is amazing and the way that that commercial turned out i couldn't have been happier [25:23] to include my family and just the messaging behind it i was really proud of so i'm super happy about that [25:29] and jose how did you um remember that whole contest and how competitive your team was but [25:35] dealing with az and facing up against it yeah she had a she had a dagger three from late it was a two [25:42] possession game in the bahamas and we had beaten syracuse in oregon and i think being being in that [25:48] moment helped us beat uh stanford uh the next game after they were they were defending national [25:54] champions but um yeah she was the one that hurt us peyton not page hey thanks pam hello az welcome to [26:06] dallas so you're joining a wings team that that averaged 42 percent in field goal percentage and [26:12] ranked 11th in the nb uh in the wnba so let's be honest if there was a shoot around who's going to [26:18] win who's going to win that shoot around that shooting contest sorry there's a shooting contest [26:24] who's going to win that shooting contest with our team oh um i mean like obviously i have to answer and [26:34] say myself but i do think it'll be a very competitive game nice thanks we'll go last one [26:41] on the zoom is ian hi az ian with the uh uconn weekly more of uh well congratulations on being [26:50] picked by dallas but i wanted to ask you about your teammates being one teammate being drafted sarah [26:55] williams and also seeing caroline get picked up on a training camp contract how much that meant to [27:01] you because you guys were have been best friends since seventh grade yeah i am super proud of both of [27:07] them super proud of sarah um i think this is a great opportunities for both of them and when [27:13] caroline called me the other day and informed me that she got invited to their training camp i [27:17] i was tearing up she told me i couldn't cry because she was going to cry but i had tears in my eyes i'm [27:21] super proud of her um having known her for so long having gone through what we've gone through uh seeing [27:27] the behind the scenes of just everything she battles through and how incredible of a person she is [27:31] um she deserves this more than anyone just the opportunity to be there to learn um and yeah i i [27:37] i'm so so happy for them last one okay um first one for coach just talk about developing this roster [27:51] and how camp's gonna go and what do you look for for az and for az um your your mom named you after [27:59] jennifer az um this also became a family affair just talk about having your family during this journey [28:05] go first okay okay well we got physicals on friday and training camp socks on sunday so um i'm really [28:17] excited about the players that had they they got here really early right they've been here for over [28:24] a week and a half so i've i've really liked what i've seen so far in regards to the standards that we [28:33] have set uh involuntary workouts and i think there's going to be a great uh carry over to sunday on the [28:40] expectations on how we how we prepare how we do things how we practice how we communicate with [28:47] one another so i'm just looking forward to getting to sunday and my family's support to me has meant [28:54] everything throughout the years are the ones that introduced me to basketball um helped grow and [28:59] develop me as a player and then uh they went to every single game in college so their support is [29:04] incredible and it didn't stop in college they're here with me now and so being able to share all these [29:08] moments with them in college the draft transitioning to here um it's super special and i know this is [29:14] not the end so i can't wait to see them in some wings gear and at games in the future thank you guys [29:20] we're going to start for some uh photo ops we'll start with you guys wait can i say one last thing [29:30] yeah okay i just want to say thank you to everyone who set this up like all the pink everything i feel [29:34] very welcomed and loved and thank you to the staff and the coaches and my teammates who came i know you [29:40] guys are busy figuring stuff out working out so thank you guys for taking the time out and coming and [29:45] supporting me and making me feel welcome