UConn G Paige Bueckers and her large fanbase had been “waiting” for the feeling of winning a national championship “since she was identified as the next face of women’s college basketball as a high-schooler,” according to Ava Wallace of the WASHINGTON POST. Bueckers was named national player of the year in her freshman season, then “shouldered those expectations as the sport convulsed and exploded around her, spitting out new stars yearly and jacking up the stakes for what being the face of women’s college basketball means.” This past week, during her last NCAA tournament, Bueckers “sounded more like a CEO than a combo guard when she spoke about building wealth through name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities and the importance of picking brand partners who align with your values.” Bueckers is the “expected No. 1 pick” in next week’s WNBA Draft. She has graced magazines and “watches U.S. Open tennis in Coco Gauff’s family box” (WASHINGTON POST, 4/6).
PART OF THE EVOLUTION: The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Rachel Bachman noted Bueckers suffered a “series of knee injuries” that sidelined her for 1 1/2 seasons. While Bueckers sat out, then-Iowa G Caitlin Clark “blossomed into superstardom.” During Bueckers’ career, the NCAA women’s tournament “went from being an underfunded afterthought to out-drawing the 2024 men’s title game on TV.” At Final Four games this weekend, young fans “fashioned their hair into Bueckers’ signature face-framing braids and lined hallways to ask for selfies and autographs” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/6).
CHECK THE RESUME: ESPN.com’s Alexa Philippou wrote UConn coach Geno Auriemma “tried to posit that Bueckers didn’t need a championship to be considered one of the program’s all-time greats, that her individual play and ability to lift all those around her elevated UConn to heights it wouldn’t have achieved without her.” Sunday’s win was Bueckers’ “coronation.” ESPN’s “The Bird & Taurasi Show” displayed after the game a “graphic listing Bueckers’ collegiate accomplishments: three-time Big East player of the year, three-time unanimous first-team All-American, 2021 national player of the year” (ESPN.com, 4/6). In Hartford, Dom Amore wrote “no one can doubt Bueckers any longer, that hers was a landmark career, that she belongs among the many greats to play at UConn.” Amore: “And if one insists a championship is necessary for admittance to that club, Bueckers now has that, too” (HARTFORD COURANT, 4/6).
TO THE NEXT STAGE: In Dallas, Jose Sanchez Cordova wrote “all signs point to Dallas” as Bueckers’ next stop as the Wings hold the first pick in the draft. Bueckers declared for the draft last month and “ended speculation that she might go back to UConn for another year.” That decision means the Wings are in “pole position to land the star guard.” Speculation has “circled that Dallas is not Bueckers’ preferred destination,” but she “downplayed it recently, saying there is ‘nowhere specific’ she wants to play.” Bueckers told Front Office Sports: “The reports are the reports. People write stories, and it’s whatever” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 4/6).
