April 14, 2025, at The Shed in New York City, the Dallas Wings select the No.1 overall draft pick Paige Bueckers. She is the 6th UConn player to be the No.1 overall draft pick.
In an interview with ESPN, Bueckers said, “You just have a level of excitement, nervousness, bittersweet feeling knowing that my journey at UConn is over, but excited for the next one to begin. To be able to share that moment with the people sitting at my table and also the people not sitting at my table, they played a huge role in it.” about being selected as No.1.
She has worked very hard to get to this point in her career, and she is clearly grateful for this next step in life. “ You don’t ever want to assume anything in life. Nothing is guaranteed, so for this moment to be here and it to actually happen, it’s nerve-racking”(espn.com).
At Bueckers’ table during the draft sat, according to CT Insider, Azzi Fudd, her good friend and teammate, Geno Auriemma, her coach from UConn, and her parents- Amy and Bob.
Bueckers spent her past 5 years at UConn playing basketball as a guard and led her team to win the NCAA championship game against South Carolina with a final score of 82-59.
According to uconnhuskies.com, during her 5th and final season, she holds the UConn records for most points scored in an NCAA tournament by a UConn Husky (477), fastest player in program history to 2,000 career points (102 games), as well as averaging a .534/.419/.889 shooting split, which makes her one of the most efficient guards in the nation.
Before UConn, she attended Hopkins High School in Hopkins, Minnesota. She was the No. 1-ranked recruit and played 5 years of varsity basketball. She was also the Gatorade female athlete of the year (2019-20), Gatorade national girls basketball player of the year (2019-20), and she led her team to the Class AAAA championship game, according to uconnhuskies.com.
As a freshman in college, Bueckers earned the Wooden Award, Naismith Trophy, AP Player of the Year, USBWA Player of the Year, as well as many other awards.
During her Junior year at UConn, she tore her ACL and was out for the entire season. Luckily, she made a recovery and returned the next season as a redshirt junior, starting in all 39 games.
At the draft, four other people were selected by the Dallas Wings: Aziaha James from NC State (12th pick), Madison Scott from Ole Miss (14th pick), JJ Quinerly from West Virginia (27th pick), and Aaronette Vonleh from Baylor (31st pick) (ncaa.com). Bueckers’ 1st game with the Dallas Wings was Friday, May 2, against the Las Vegas Aces, where she scored her 1st 10 points. Unfortunately, the Wings lost 112-78, but Paige’s next game is Friday, May 16, against the Minnesota Lynx at the College Park Center, according to wnba.com and espn.com.
In an interview with Adam Rittenburg, Bueckers said, “It’s super surreal in terms of the turnaround from where I was two weeks ago to where I am today. But just soaking it up, enjoying every moment, getting used to new routines, traditions, new teammates, new organization, and just excited to play basketball again with this new group.”
