The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A big night for Edwards, Mühl
Mystics make forward 6th pick overall; Seattle takes guard in 2nd round
NEW YORK — Two more UConn women’s basketball stars have made the leap into the WNBA.
Forward Aaliyah Edwards and point guard Nika Mühl heard their names called in Monday’s 2024 WNBA Draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Their professional careers officially beginning.
Edwards was selected by the Washington Mystics with the sixth overall pick and Mühl was picked No. 14 overall (second pick in the second round) by the Seattle Storm. For the 16th time in program history, UConn had more than one player selected in the same WNBA Draft.
The two were supported in person Monday by Geno Auriemma, Chris Dailey, Morgan Valley, Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme and Aubrey Griffin. While the UConn coaches sat at Mühl’s table, the current players sat in the stands and cheered loud and proud when their teammates’ names were called.
Iowa sensation Caitlin Clark was the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever. Los Angeles then selected Stanford star Cameron Brink with the second pick and Chicago picked South Carolina Kamilla Cardoso with the third overall pick.
Edwards and Mühl ended their collegiate careers in Cleveland in the Final Four on April 5. During their four years in Storrs, they helped led UConn to one National Championship appearance, three Final Fours and eight total Big East championships (four regular-season crowns and four conference tournament titles). Both have left their mark in UConn’s records books. Now they’ll look to do the same on the professional stage.
“The Bleed Blue bleeds all the way into the league,” Edwards said. “I’m just very fortunate to be given the opportunity to go to UConn and spend my four years there, but especially spend my four years there with Nika. We had a hug when my name was called. It’s just a lot because the people and the relationships you build over this beautiful game that we play, it’s amazing.”
Edwards, from Kingston, Ontario, became the sixth Husky all-time to surpass 1,800 career points and 1,000 rebounds. On the program’s all-time career lists, she’s No. 15 in points (1,861), No. 8 in rebounds (1,020) and No. 6 in double-doubles (35). On Monday, Edwards sat with her family on stage.
“Right before the commissioner said my name, I just looked down and thought to myself and said a little prayer, like, ‘It’s your time. It’s God’s timing.’ ” Edwards said. “She said my name, and that’s when the water works started happening. Just super grateful for this moment and this opportunity.”
The forward was one of
UConn’s most dominant and consistent players these last two seasons. As a junior, she earned Third Team All-American honors and the 2023 Big East Most Improved Player award. She reached another level this year and earned WBCA All-American honors, earning her official spot on the Huskies of Honor wall.
Edwards will graduate from UConn this spring with a bachelor’s degree in communication in May and will become the 19th Canadian to compete in the WNBA. UConn’s last Canadian to get drafted to the WNBA was All-Star Kia Nurse (No. 10 overall pick in 2019). She’s been a member of the Canadian senior national team since she was 16 and was the youngest member of the Canadian team during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“Just to have a dream like this and to actually walk through it, I said this out there, it’s just amazing,” Edwards said. “A lot of people have dreams, but a lot of people aren’t able to achieve it. For me to be fortunate enough to say that and to keep going and to keep pushing my dreams, it’s just amazing.”
In Washington, she’ll look to boost the Mystics’ frontcourt along side Shakira Austin. She will play for head coach Eric Thibault, brother of Fairfield coach Carly ThibaultDuDonis.
“We are really excited to draft Aaliyah Edwards,” said Mystics General Manager Mike Thibault. “We needed to select a player who complements Shakira Austin in our front court. Her competitiveness, high-end defensive motor and fast improving offensive game will fit well with what we are trying to build for our culture and future success.”
Added Edwards: “I think one of the things going into this league that I want to do is just expand my game. Might be asked to play a different role, but I’m open to it. I see myself as a versatile player and impacting in any position that I’m asked to play in. Yeah, it’s going to be a tough league, tough first year, but I’m pumped and I’m ready for the challenge.”
Mühl becomes the fourth-ever Croatian-born player to be drafted into the WNBA. The point guard said she grew up watching WNBA highlight videos on YouTube in her living room since the league was so hard to access in Europe.
After hugging her UConn coaches and younger sister, Hana, on Monday, Mühl hugged Edwards’ mom before heading on stage.
“I was so positively overwhelmed, and just having all of them around me, all my people in the stands, at the table, knowing that my family, my friends from back home are watching, it’s surreal,” Mühl said. “It’s why I’m here. Without them, I would never be here sitting and answering your questions. I owe everything to them, and I’m just truly blessed and so grateful for Seattle to give me this opportunity.”
She later got emotional, holding back tears, when asked what this journey has been like to have Edwards by her side.
“That’s my sister. That’s my family,” Mühl said. “I met her even before we both committed to UConn . ... To be able to here with her and share this has been nothing but incredible, and something that I’ll remember for the rest of my life because it would not be the same if she wasn’t here with me.
“I’m so proud of her. She’s going to do amazing. She’s going to do great. Everything that she did, she deserves.”
While she initially came to UConn to play backup to Paige Bueckers, Mühl instead became one of the program’s most prolific point guards of all time.She filled in for Bueckers as the Huskies’ starting point guard in 2022-23 and handled majority of the ball-handling duties again this year.
“I feel like this was something that I didn’t even dare to dream about, if I can say it that way,” Mühl said. “I always felt like it was such a reach. It was something far more beyond me and bigger than me. But luckily I had people around me, my teammates, my friends, my family, my coaches, everybody that made me believe in it, too.”
Mühl, a two-time AP All-American honorable mention, holds UConn’s career (686), single-season (384) and single-game (15) assist records. She recorded double-digit assists in 17 games — the most by any Husky ever. Mühl ended her collegiate career with 764 points and 453 rebounds.
On top of her assists, she was also UConn’s best defender each of the last two seasons too. Mühl earned back-to-back Big East Defensive Player of the Year honors and most recently showed off her skills against No. 1 overall pick Caitlin Clark in the Final Four.
Mühl also graduates from UConn this May with a bachelor’s degree in psychological sciences. Now, she’ll move across the country and join a franchise that has a history at transforming former Huskies into legendary players.
Mühl won’t be able to wear No. 10 with the Storm since the franchise retired the number last summer to honor longtime Storm point guard and former Husky legend Sue Bird. Bird led Storm to four WNBA titles during her WNBA career.
“I love Sue. I love her so much,” Mühl said. “I remember watching her when I was a kid, trying to mimic her moves. Being at UConn after her has been a huge deal for me. Very, very humbling experience. She’s one of the greatest. To be able to have this opportunity again, I mean, it’s a fullcircle moment for me. I can’t believe it. It’s got to be some higher power, something else going on, because I have no words for this.”
In Seattle, Mühl will have the chance to learn from All-Star guards Jewell Loyd and Skylar Diggins-Smith along with WNBA legend forward Nneka Ogwumike.
“Those are some iconic women,” Mühl said. “Those are some iconic basketball players, people that I want to learn from, that I want to listen to, that I want to get challenged by, that I want to get yelled at, everything, all of the above. I’m ready for it . ...
“The one thing that I want to bring is being a good teammate. I want to create amazing relationships over there. I feel like that’s what makes and helps teams win, and I want to be a part of that winning program because it truly is a historic winning program.”