UConn Legend Honors Paige Bueckers on Time 100 Next List
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When Paige Bueckers left the UConn Huskies for the WNBA following the 2024-25 season, she had established herself as one of UConn’s best women's basketball players to ever do it. In Bueckers’ four years as a Huskie, the future No.1 pick averaged 19.8 points per game with 4.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds with an electric 53.1% field goal rate, including 42.3% from beyond the arc. Bueckers’ 19.8 points per game tally is the best in UConn women’s basketball history, and her 2,439 career points rank third all-time among the Huskies.
Fellow UConn great Diana Taurasi had the chance to write about Bueckers when nominating her to the 2025 Time100 Next.
“The easiest thing to do in a game is shoot the basketball every single time you touch it, especially when you’re the best player on the court,” Taurasi wrote.
“And Paige Bueckers is the best player on the court 99.99% of the time because she’s so gifted offensively, defensively — she disrupts so much. The hardest thing to do is pass the ball. Paige does it, and that’s what sets her apart.”
Through Bueckers’ three full years under head coach Geno Auriemma (2020-21,2023-24,2024-25), the Huskies marked 98 wins to just 11 losses and one NCAA National Championship in 2025.
“I got to see her win the NCAA championship for UConn this past year, shortly before she was drafted first overall by the Dallas Wings," said the Huskies' three-time NCAA National Champion. "She was beaming, because all she wanted to do was win a championship for our team, for our school, for herself, for her teammates. That’s what makes her special: she wants to do it for everyone.”
After Bueckers’ legendary college career, the WNBA franchise, the Dallas Wings, inevitably selected her with the first overall pick.
In Bueckers’ first 47 games in the WNBA, Bueckers accumulated 19 points per game with nearly four rebounds, five assists, and a healthy 1.6 steals per game.
Despite the Wings’ struggles as they amassed just 10 wins on the year, Bueckers earned the 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year.
Bueckers notched a career-high 44 points against the Los Angeles Sparks in what was a narrow 81-80 loss for the Wings. Bueckers surpassed 20 points per game 17 times this season, and her 19.2 points ranked fifth-best in the WNBA. Her 5.4 assists placed her 10th in the WNBA this season in assists per game averages.
Connor is a recent graduate from the esteemed Sports Media and Analytics program at Virginia Tech. He first found himself writing for recruiting database Rivals.com for just about two years before moving to Virginia Tech On SI. Connor has interviewed some of the highest-ranking members of Virginia Tech Athletics and looks to one day be a full-time writer covering Manchester United, his favorite soccer team.