Who are the top prospects for the WNBA Draft 2025?

The college basketball season for both men's and women's NCAA team ended in a bang this year. In the women's March Madness, UConn continued their unprecedented streak of winning, ultimately winning their 12th championship and the first in nine years. The program's star athlete, Paige Bueckers emerged as the first overall pick in the WNBA Draft 2025 and is touted to be one of the best prospects entering the league this season.

A lot of other big college names, such as Kiki Irafen, Sonia Citron, and Hailey Van Lith among others were also drafted in this year's draft class. Of course, to support these rising stars in their biggest career moment of this point, the players' respective college coaches were also present.

The WNBA official X handle posted a video of how the college coaches were always there to support their players, no matter where they were drafted in the league.

This adorable clip gained a lot of traction online and fans were more than pleased to see their favorite college players and their coaches bonding one last time before the jump to the big leagues. Here are some of the best reactions that the fans had to these interactions.

Fan Reaction to Coaches Getting Emotional

An important part of shaping these players into the talents that they are now are their coaches. From prep school to high school and then college basketball, coaches in all levels play a pivotal role in shaping the players' game and skills. Some of the most popular basketball coaches such as North Carolina State's Wes Moore, and LSU Tigers' Kim Mulkey were all present witnessing the historic WNBA draft night unfold.

Amongst the many coaches, UConn Huskies' women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma was also present and was seen hugging Paige and Azzi Fudd at the table.

Here is a fan expressing how they love seeing coaches showing support to their players in the replies to WNBA's tweet.

Another user seemed quite enamored by Paige and Auriemma's relationship and was ready to believe Bueckers might even be her coach's grandbaby!

This fan appreciates the coaches showing up for the team and thus gaining their ‘respect.’ Basketball fans from all around who came to The Shed for the draft night or watched the draft from their homes stayed and watched the emotional interactions and showed their appreciation in the most wholesome way possible.

Another user claims that Azzi Fudd might still be Auriemma's favorite, despite her not declaring for draft this year. Perhaps, his fondness for Fudd makes him treat the UConn star slightly special!

Amidst all of this, ESPN's Rebecca Lobo asked Auriemma his piece of advice to the Dallas Wings for Paige Bueckers. The national champion coach answered in the most hilarious way possible, saying, “Pretend everything's OK.” He further added,

“Be ready for her to challenge you and you should challenge her. She’s gonna be a risk-taker and you gonna have to live with some of the risks because most times, they actually pay off. And at the end of the day, just keep in mind, she wants to win as much as you do. And she’ll spend more time in the gym than you do. So it’s a home run for both of them.”

Now that the WNBA pre-season dates draw close, fans are excited to watch these draft prospects in action. Surely, the class of 2025 will be able to live up to their hype and break some expectations to emerge as one of the best draft classes of the W.