UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers will be taking the next step in her illustrious career and is set to declare for the 2025 WNBA Draft after the end of the 2024-25 women’s college basketball season, she told ESPN on Friday.
Paige Bueckers drains pull-up 3-pointer, extending UConn’s lead over Villanova
Bueckers, a fifth-year senior guard who still has one more year of eligibility remaining if she wants to remain at UConn, is averaging 19.2 points, a Big East-high 4.8 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game this season, while shooting 54.2/41.1/90.2. She has played her entire career at UConn, missing the 2022-23 season due to a torn ACL.
Bueckers has established herself as the likely first overall pick in the upcoming draft. She is currently second in UConn history with 854 career points and is averaging 19.6 points, 4.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game over her career.
The 6-foot guard from Hopkins, Minnesota is leading the top-seeded Huskies against the third-seeded Oklahoma Sooners in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Women’s Tournament on Saturday. On the whole, UConn is 33-3 overall and 18-0 in Big East play this season, claiming both the conference regular season and conference tournament titles.
“There’s a lot of pressure on her,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma told reporters after Bueckers won her third Big East Tournament most outstanding player award. “There [are] a lot of demands on her from a lot of different sources. It’s a heavy weight to carry around everywhere you go. … For her to be able to constantly come up with these kinds of performances time and time again, she just has that thing that those kinds of players have.”
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