IN PHOTOS: UConn WBB share snaps of Paige Bueckers training for the upcoming season in the gym

UConn Huskies basketball star Paige Bueckers holds the hopes of the program going into next season. She has opted to return for an unprecedented fifth year under coach Geno Auriemma. With the departure of college basketball stalwarts Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark, Bueckers is widely considered the best player in the women's game.

Teammates like Kamorea Arnold and the even program were excited to see the UConn star back in the gym to train.

The program posted pictures of Bueckers training on Instagram and captioned them:

"Paige Bueckers is back in the gym."

Paige Bueckers has to adapt next season to lead team to glory

Paige Bueckers has grown to become one of the best women's college basketball players since she donned a UConn Huskies jersey. She won the National Player of the Year award during her freshman season, in 2021, to stake her claim.

Since then, she has had to contend with two season-ending ACL injuries but has remained the team's star. Unlike other stars, she has never been a ball hog and has always created open shots for her teammates, earning praise.

Having played for coach Brian Cosgriff at Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Bueckers learned the art of unselfishness. Her high school coach explained her behavior to "The Score."

"Paige loves her teammates. Paige will do whatever it takes to win a ball game," Cosgriff said. "If that means she's gotta get the ball to somebody else or if the other person is gonna bring the ball up, that's what Paige is gonna do."

"Paige is flat-out a winner and she's selfless. She does not care about personal glory or anything. She just wants to win."

When Bueckers was fit again, she led her team to within a basket of the national championship game against coach Dawn Staley's South Carolina Gamecocks.

Bueckers was shot shy in the Final Four game, shooting only 17 times. She shot three times in the final quarter against Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes as the Huskies controversially lost a close game 71-69.

During his postgame news conference, coach Geno Auriemma had a demand for his star player's style of play going forward:

"Paige is a patient person who waits, and I think she is going to learn, or has begun to learn, that there is no waiting at this time of the year. It's you make it happen yourself. And you have to be more selfish.

"I know she wants to be the greatest teammate of all time, but I think those days are over and she needs to assert herself more."

Only time will tell whether Bueckers can carry out the personal challenge tasked by coach Auriemma.