After Paige Bueckers went No. 1 overall, two more Huskies came off the board late.
The 2025 WNBA Draft opened with Paige Bueckers going No. 1 overall and it closed with Kaitlyn Chen and Aubrey Griffin being taken in the third round. Chen went 30th overall to the Golden State Valkyries and Aubrey Griffin was selected 37th overall — the second to last pick in the draft — by the Minnesota Lynx.
Chen, a native of San Marino, California, will return to her home state to start her professional career. She’s the first Husky taken by the Valkyries, who are set to begin their inaugural season. Meanwhile, Griffin is the 50th UConn player drafted and the ninth taken by the Lynx — most of any WNBA franchise.
Chen starred at Princeton for three seasons then transferred to the Huskies for her final year of eligibility. During her time in Storrs, she proved she could play among the nation’s elite, starting all 40 games while running the point for the eventual national champions. Chen averaged 6.9 points and 3.4 assists but played her basketball down the stretch. She put up double-figures seven times in the new year after doing so just three times prior and had her best game in a UConn uniform during the Elite Eight with 15 points.
Despite being selected late in the draft, Geno Auriemma expects her to stick in the WNBA.
“She’s going to make it in that league,” he said at the Big East Tournament. “I think if she was a backup point guard her first year, you would be hard-pressed to find somebody better.”
Meanwhile, Griffin six-year player in UConn’s history. She played 126 career games between 2019-2024, averaging 7.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in her career, then tied a program record for the most made field goals in a game without a miss, hitting 11-11 on Dec. 8, 2022 against Princeton.
Griffin comes from a basketball family. Her father, Adrian, spent nine years in the NBA while her brother, AJ, was a 2022 first round pick and spent two seasons in the league.
Though Griffin had to wait until the second to last pick of the draft, Auriemma admitted that Lynx general manager and head coach Cheryl Reeve gave him a heads up. Minnesota currently has four Huskies on its roster: Napheesa Collier, Dorka Juhász, Christyn Williams (training camp contract) and Griffin.
Bueckers, Chen and Griffin are now the 17th set of UConn teammates drafted in the same year.