Paige Bueckers filled out her collegiate trophy case with a long-coveted national championship in Tampa, Florida, eight days ago.
The Dallas Wings contributed to the Minnesota native’s professional portfolio when they took her with the No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
“So excited to start that new chapter and be in a new city and explore that and give everything I have to the Wings organization,” Bueckers told the press moments after being selected Monday evening. “I know we are going to do great things, and it is a fresh start, and I think we are all ready to do something special.”
Bueckers becomes the UConn Women’s Basketball team’s sixth first overall pick in the WNBA Draft’s history. The 2025 Wade Trophy winner joins Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart in that exclusive club.
During her time at UConn, Bueckers averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.1 steals and 0.8 blocks in 123 career games. The 2021 National Player of the Year’s 2,439 career points helped her finish third on the Huskies’ scoring list behind Stewart and Moore.
The 2024-25 campaign alone became one in which Bueckers (19.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 4.6 APG, 3.5 AST/TO ratio) shattered multiple records. In the regular season, ESPN’s No. 1 recruit in the 2020 class became Connecticut’s fastest player to 2,000 career points at 102 games. Come the postseason, Bueckers upped her overall game to another level. The consensus First Team All-American broke program marks for most career points in the NCAA Tournament and most points in a March Madness contest.
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But Bueckers is so much more than a potent scoring machine. The 6-foot-0 Minnesota native also ranks in the top 10 in assists (eighth), steals (10th), three-point percentage (fifth) and total field goals (also fifth). Only National Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong had more than Bueckers’ 29 blocks and 81 steals this past season. Until Nika Mühl broke it in 2022, the 2020 Morgan Wootten Player of the Year held the program’s single-game assists record at 14.
Paige Bueckers supported her former UConn teammates, Mühl and Aaliyah Edwards, during last year’s WNBA Draft. But being in their shoes 364 days later, in Bueckers’ eyes, is a vastly different feeling.
“Super surreal. Just like I have been talking about, just so grateful to be here. I do not want to take this for granted,” the 28th first-round pick in program history expressed. “I have been focusing a lot about being present and being where my feet are, so to be at this stage, to be here, to have a lot of my supporters here and people who have helped me get here, it just means everything to me.”
Bueckers immediately becomes one of the faces of the Wings’ franchise alongside reigning steals champion and two-time All-Star Game MVP Arike Ogunbowale. Only WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, the first player with 1,000+ points in one season, averaged more than Ogunbowale’s 22.2 points at 26.9.
Complementing the former Notre Dame guard with the three-time Big East Player of the Year should significantly bolster Dallas’s defense. The Wings surrendered a league-worst 92.1 points per game in 2024. For reference, the Huskies allowed no more than 80 points in any of their 40 contests this past season. Dallas will best feel Bueckers’ impact on the transition game, but her shot selection could also yield improvements in their post defense.
2024-25 UConn was one of the deepest teams the 2019-20 Gatorade Female Athlete of the Year ever played on. The 2025 Wings, when fully healthy, should be no different. Offseason acquisitions DiJonai Carrington, Tyasha Harris and NaLyssa Smith give Dallas at least seven players who could start a game at any point. Having a multitude of experienced starters will take some significant pressure off Bueckers’ hands, which should allow her to play more comfortably.
If the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup MVP regularly picks up 20+ points, it should not be long before the Wings become contenders. Based on her brief pre-draft conversations with Dallas, the Huskies of Honor’s newest member looks forward to what lies ahead.
“I cannot wait to play with that system, to play with that team, to embrace that new city,” Bueckers commented about joining the Wings. “To be in a place that you are loved and wanted, that is very important.”
But before her next chapter officially begins, the two-time Nancy Lieberman National Point Guard of the Year wanted to recognize her Husky teammates.
“They mean everything to me, … they have seen every side of me, and the love there is unconditional,” Bueckers stated. “I want to cherish that relationship for the rest of my life, and I would not be here without them.”
Bueckers will likely play in her first unofficial WNBA game on Friday, May 2, against the Las Vegas Aces at Notre Dame’s Purcell Pavilion. Her official debut comes two weeks later on May 16 against the defending runners-up, the Minnesota Lynx, at 7:30 p.m. EDT.
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