"The urgency is at an all-time high"- UConn's Paige Bueckers sets her eyes on the prize for her last season at Storrs
Paige Bueckers has established herself as one of the best players in UConn Huskies' program history. While she has achieved several accolades in her college basketball career, there is one title that has always eluded her: the coveted NCAA championship.
Bueckers and the Huskies suffered heartbreak in March Madness last season, losing 69-71 in the final few seconds to Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four. Ahead of her final season in college basketball, Bueckers admitted that the pain of that defeat has driven her throughout the offseason to go for glory.
"I was sick about the last game, and sick about how our season ended,” said Bueckers. "This is my last year to get what I came here for. … The urgency is at an all-time high."
Paige Bueckers reveals a valuable lesson from her ACL injury
Paige Bueckers was sidelined for the 2022-23 season with an ACL injury. During that time, the talented guard revealed how the injury improved her way of seeing things in life, paying attention to the little details that can make a big difference.
"In high school I wasn’t huge on the little detail of things. I always got by on my talent," said Bueckers. "I worked extremely hard, yes, but I feel like there was minute details of the game of life that I would sometimes not have to be the best at because I could get away with it."
Bueckers returned from injury with a strong 2023-24 season, playing a key role in the Huskies' run to the Final Four. In 35 starts, she averaged 21.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.1 steals and 1.4 blocks.
She was named the Big East Player of the Year and earned a spot on the Final Four All-Tournament Team and the All-Big East First Team, along with unanimous First-Team All-American honors.
With Clark and Angel Reese earning call-ups to the WNBA, Bueckers will arguably be the biggest star in the upcoming college basketball season. Projected as one of the top picks for the 2025 WNBA draft, she is driven to give her best for the Huskies in her final season of college basketball.
Paige Bueckers will hope to lead the Huskies to an NCAA Tournament victory for the first time since 2016, which would be the perfect way to end one of the most glorious college basketball careers in recent history.