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NEW YORK — Paige Bueckers is running on great — and grateful — fumes.
After winning an elusive NCAA title in Tampa, Florida, eight days ago, she’s lived most of the first week as a reigning national champion going back and forth between Storrs, Connecticut, and New York in the seven-day limbo between collegiate standout and WNBA superstar.
A day ago, she paraded around Hartford, where the school plays some of its games, to celebrate the program’s 12th national championship. And on Monday night at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York, she accepted a fresh jersey when the Dallas Wings selected her No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft.
Neither her being projected to hear her name called first for years, nor her attendance at the draft a year ago as a camera-weilding fan to celebrate her teammates, prepared her for this moment.
“You don’t ever want to assume anything,” Bueckers said of a lesson learned from experience. “Nothing is guaranteed, so for this moment to be here and it actually happened, it’s nerve-racking. You have a level of excitement, nervousness, bittersweet feeling knowing the journey at UConn is over, but [I’m] excited for the next one to begin.”
The book of Paige is entering its WNBA era, and the league surely hopes it will keep reaching heights similar to those the 16 in-person draftees experienced at the Empire State Building on Monday morning, an annual tradition ahead of the festivities. (Don’t worry, Bueckers, there’s no need to look down.)
Paige Bueckers graces the orange carpet before being selected No. 1 overall Monday night in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fans filtered to the Hudson Yards area in the early evening with No. 5 Bueckers UConn jerseys, and teammate Azzi Fudd waved to fans on the other side of the building on her way in to sit with Bueckers, the top pick's family and head coach Geno Auriemma at the draftee’s table. It was the overwhelming collegiate power fully represented.
Former teammates Nika Mühl, Sarah Strong, Aaliyah Edwards and KK Arnold were among the UConn contingent cheering for Bueckers in their own section. She teared up on the broadcast speaking about how much they all mean to her in their long collective journey of playing for a UConn team that, until this year, was never at full strength.
“To be at this stage, to be here, to have a lot of my supporters here, and people who’ve helped me get here, it just means everything to me,” Bueckers told reporters after leaving the theater.
The fans, who are in attendance at the WNBA Draft for only the second year, answered at every mention of her name by the broadcast crew or in-arena host. A member of the Peace Players Brooklyn, special guests in attendance, held an iPad message reading, “Go Paige Bueckers” when shown in the theater feed.
Bueckers, who underwent an outfit change between the orange carpet and her selection, was one of those fans a year ago when she showed up with a camera and all-white fit to support Edwards, who is entering her second season with the Mystics, and Mühl, a member of the Storm who will be out most or all of the season with an ACL injury sustained playing overseas in October.
“Especially coming in with them as freshmen, to go through that entire journey together, and for them to get rewarded like that was extremely great to be a part of,” Bueckers said. “And this time, it’s super different just being in those shoes where Nika and Aaliyah were last year.”
It was the class Bueckers entered college with before injuries derailed her collegiate career and repeat title aspirations. She used a redshirt season and waited a season to become a pro, providing a rolling infusion of talent into the WNBA as draft classes with name recognition stack on top of each other.
As one of the first NCAA athletes to benefit from name, image and likeness deals, she is one of the most well-known and present players, and her 2.3 million Instagram followers outnumber those of WNBA champions Sabrina Ionescu (1.4 million) and A’ja Wilson (1.3 million). She trails 2024 draftees Caitlin Clark (3.1 million) and Angel Reese (4.8 million), drivers of the league’s spike in interest on its already ascending track.
Though not in attendance, another Huskies presence who delivered her own WNBA boost decades ago lingered over the night. Diana Taurasi, who announced her retirement after a 20-year WNBA career, delivered the opening voiceover to the ESPN broadcast and received a small highlight package on air.
It’s a changing of the guard from two Huskies pegged as generational talents and who were asked to step into a face-of-the-league role immediately. They are two of the six UConn players to be selected No. 1 overall, joining Sue Bird (2002), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011) and Breanna Stewart (2016). Charles (Sun) and Stewart (Liberty) are still in the league and will face the latest Husky taking over a league full of them.
As with all of those top picks, Bueckers is tasked with lifting a franchise that won the draft lottery for a reason. The Wings haven’t reached a Finals since they won three WNBA championships as the Detroit Shock. Since 2010, the Wings have played in two semifinals: once as the Tulsa Shock and once as the Wings in 2023, when they were swept by the dominant Las Vegas Aces.
“We have established that there are new levels of standards that are going to be set in play, and there's a new GM, there's a new coach, new assistant coach, a whole new team,” Bueckers said. “So we're excited for that new fresh start. It's not a rebuild, it's just a build from where we are.”
Bueckers said conversations with the franchise before the draft were “brief,” which makes sense for a group that went wild celebrating earning the right in December to select her. The city, too, has given “great love,” Bueckers said, just for the potential of having her in town. It’s been a foregone conclusion for months, from the front office to players like Arike Ogunbowale immediately voicing excitement to those who will likely fill the arena as attendance booms around the country. Many teams, including Dallas, moved games to a bigger venue with Clark in town last year and again this year. It could end up being the case for Bueckers.
Bueckers, in a continuation of remarks she’s made all year, said she remains grateful. She remains present in the moment of the whirlwind ride players endure from the Final Four through to the WNBA Draft and training camp in a couple of weeks. The season begins in about four weeks.
She remains so present, in fact, she swiftly remedied a minor guffaw to stay in her new fans’ good graces. In the pre-draft show on ESPN, she selected barbecue over Tex-Mex in a rapid fire answer session and in the minutes after officially becoming a representative of Texas, she changed course.
“I was unfamiliar with the term Tex-Mex, so that’s my pick,” Bueckers said.
After a long, packed eight days from cutting the nets to No. 1, it’s time to refuel for the next chapter.
Continue reading...
After winning an elusive NCAA title in Tampa, Florida, eight days ago, she’s lived most of the first week as a reigning national champion going back and forth between Storrs, Connecticut, and New York in the seven-day limbo between collegiate standout and WNBA superstar.
A day ago, she paraded around Hartford, where the school plays some of its games, to celebrate the program’s 12th national championship. And on Monday night at The Shed at Hudson Yards in New York, she accepted a fresh jersey when the Dallas Wings selected her No. 1 overall in the WNBA Draft.
Neither her being projected to hear her name called first for years, nor her attendance at the draft a year ago as a camera-weilding fan to celebrate her teammates, prepared her for this moment.
“You don’t ever want to assume anything,” Bueckers said of a lesson learned from experience. “Nothing is guaranteed, so for this moment to be here and it actually happened, it’s nerve-racking. You have a level of excitement, nervousness, bittersweet feeling knowing the journey at UConn is over, but [I’m] excited for the next one to begin.”
The book of Paige is entering its WNBA era, and the league surely hopes it will keep reaching heights similar to those the 16 in-person draftees experienced at the Empire State Building on Monday morning, an annual tradition ahead of the festivities. (Don’t worry, Bueckers, there’s no need to look down.)
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Paige Bueckers graces the orange carpet before being selected No. 1 overall Monday night in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Fans filtered to the Hudson Yards area in the early evening with No. 5 Bueckers UConn jerseys, and teammate Azzi Fudd waved to fans on the other side of the building on her way in to sit with Bueckers, the top pick's family and head coach Geno Auriemma at the draftee’s table. It was the overwhelming collegiate power fully represented.
Former teammates Nika Mühl, Sarah Strong, Aaliyah Edwards and KK Arnold were among the UConn contingent cheering for Bueckers in their own section. She teared up on the broadcast speaking about how much they all mean to her in their long collective journey of playing for a UConn team that, until this year, was never at full strength.
“To be at this stage, to be here, to have a lot of my supporters here, and people who’ve helped me get here, it just means everything to me,” Bueckers told reporters after leaving the theater.
The fans, who are in attendance at the WNBA Draft for only the second year, answered at every mention of her name by the broadcast crew or in-arena host. A member of the Peace Players Brooklyn, special guests in attendance, held an iPad message reading, “Go Paige Bueckers” when shown in the theater feed.
Bueckers, who underwent an outfit change between the orange carpet and her selection, was one of those fans a year ago when she showed up with a camera and all-white fit to support Edwards, who is entering her second season with the Mystics, and Mühl, a member of the Storm who will be out most or all of the season with an ACL injury sustained playing overseas in October.
“Especially coming in with them as freshmen, to go through that entire journey together, and for them to get rewarded like that was extremely great to be a part of,” Bueckers said. “And this time, it’s super different just being in those shoes where Nika and Aaliyah were last year.”
It was the class Bueckers entered college with before injuries derailed her collegiate career and repeat title aspirations. She used a redshirt season and waited a season to become a pro, providing a rolling infusion of talent into the WNBA as draft classes with name recognition stack on top of each other.
As one of the first NCAA athletes to benefit from name, image and likeness deals, she is one of the most well-known and present players, and her 2.3 million Instagram followers outnumber those of WNBA champions Sabrina Ionescu (1.4 million) and A’ja Wilson (1.3 million). She trails 2024 draftees Caitlin Clark (3.1 million) and Angel Reese (4.8 million), drivers of the league’s spike in interest on its already ascending track.
Though not in attendance, another Huskies presence who delivered her own WNBA boost decades ago lingered over the night. Diana Taurasi, who announced her retirement after a 20-year WNBA career, delivered the opening voiceover to the ESPN broadcast and received a small highlight package on air.
It’s a changing of the guard from two Huskies pegged as generational talents and who were asked to step into a face-of-the-league role immediately. They are two of the six UConn players to be selected No. 1 overall, joining Sue Bird (2002), Tina Charles (2010), Maya Moore (2011) and Breanna Stewart (2016). Charles (Sun) and Stewart (Liberty) are still in the league and will face the latest Husky taking over a league full of them.
As with all of those top picks, Bueckers is tasked with lifting a franchise that won the draft lottery for a reason. The Wings haven’t reached a Finals since they won three WNBA championships as the Detroit Shock. Since 2010, the Wings have played in two semifinals: once as the Tulsa Shock and once as the Wings in 2023, when they were swept by the dominant Las Vegas Aces.
“We have established that there are new levels of standards that are going to be set in play, and there's a new GM, there's a new coach, new assistant coach, a whole new team,” Bueckers said. “So we're excited for that new fresh start. It's not a rebuild, it's just a build from where we are.”
Bueckers said conversations with the franchise before the draft were “brief,” which makes sense for a group that went wild celebrating earning the right in December to select her. The city, too, has given “great love,” Bueckers said, just for the potential of having her in town. It’s been a foregone conclusion for months, from the front office to players like Arike Ogunbowale immediately voicing excitement to those who will likely fill the arena as attendance booms around the country. Many teams, including Dallas, moved games to a bigger venue with Clark in town last year and again this year. It could end up being the case for Bueckers.
Bueckers, in a continuation of remarks she’s made all year, said she remains grateful. She remains present in the moment of the whirlwind ride players endure from the Final Four through to the WNBA Draft and training camp in a couple of weeks. The season begins in about four weeks.
She remains so present, in fact, she swiftly remedied a minor guffaw to stay in her new fans’ good graces. In the pre-draft show on ESPN, she selected barbecue over Tex-Mex in a rapid fire answer session and in the minutes after officially becoming a representative of Texas, she changed course.
“I was unfamiliar with the term Tex-Mex, so that’s my pick,” Bueckers said.
After a long, packed eight days from cutting the nets to No. 1, it’s time to refuel for the next chapter.
Continue reading...
