Paige Bueckers Sent UConn Coach Geno Auriemma Sweet Text Before Team's First Practice

UConn has a lot of pressure on the program this year coming off a national title and with losing Paige Bueckers to the WNBA.

Paige Bueckers sent her former UConn coach Geno Auriemma a sweet text this week as the team starts practices. / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The UConn Huskies will enter the 2025-26 season with a lot of pressure on their shoulders as they're coming off winning a national title back in April. Additionally, the squad will have to adjust to not having Paige Bueckers this season and moving forward.

It's going to be a big change for the Huskies as Bueckers was their star player for the past few years. She's since gone on to be the WNBA's No. 1 pick and the league's Rookie of the Year. Those are some big shoes to fill.

While UConn figures out how to fill the hole Bueckers left, the Wings star texted Huskies coach Geno Auriemma with a sweet message ahead of the team's first practice this week.

“She texts me, and I can show it to you. It says, ‘I miss you,’" Auriemma said, via CT Insider's Maggie Vanoni, before joking: "I'm not sure it was meant for me. I'm going with it was accidental, it was a butt text, and it kind of made me, like, roll my eyes and go, ‘I kind of miss you more.’”

How sweet. It sounds like Bueckers misses her UConn squad quite a bit.

Auriemma also compared the situation the Huskies are in this upcoming season to previous seasons when the team's lost their superstars. He knows UConn can overcome the challenge, though.

“But it's like when Stewie [Breanna Stewart] left, it's like when Diana [Taurasi] left, it's like when Maya [Moore] left, you know, or Tina [Charles], or you know, anytime you have someone that's so dominant at their position, it takes some new getting used to, for sure.”

The Huskies play their first game of the season on Monday, Oct. 13 against Boston College, with the season officially tipping off in November.

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