Paige Bueckers opens up about what she'll miss the most about Geno Auriemma as college career nears end

Paige Bueckers will play her final collegiate game on Sunday when UConn faces fellow top-seed South Carolina in the national title game. It will also be the last time she plays for Huskies coach Geno Auriemma.

Ahead of the championship game, Bueckers was asked which trait of Auriemma she would miss the most: his sarcastic side or sentimental persona.

"Yeah. I mean, obviously, his sarcasm, his quick-witted humor," Bueckers said. "And his ability to let you know that he doesn't like you, and he hates coaching you, and you're the worst thing that ever happened. But then, on the other side of it, how much he has your back and how much he's a little bit delusional and an exaggeration pro. So, all these things that he's saying, he doesn't really mean it.

"But his belief and his confidence and his trust in me and how much he holds me accountable for all the things that you didn't even know were important. I think nobody has a better feel for that, and nobody has better knowledge and experience than that. And him winning 11 national titles wasn't on accident. So you know this guy's a winner, and you know everything he says is pretty much gold. So just his experience, his wisdom, and his sarcasm, I guess."

Bueckers committed to UConn in 2020. Although she has spent five years working with Auriemma, she missed one entire season due to an ACL injury she suffered in August 2022.

Bueckers, who has won three Big East Player of the Year awards, will want to leave UConn as a national champion before going pro. The Huskies star is expected to declare for the WNBA draft this year, where she is nailed on to be taken as the top pick.

Paige Bueckers will be playing her second national title game against South Carolina before going pro

NCAA Women's Basketball: UConn Huskies star Paige Bueckers - Source: Imagn

Paige Bueckers had led UConn to the national title game in 2022. However, the Huskies lost to Dawn Staley's South Carolina in that season's final.

Now, three years later, UConn will face South Carolina in a rematch of that final on Sunday. This time around, in her second national title game, Bueckers will aim to end up on the winning side.

Notably, Auriemma will also be looking to end his nine-year drought without a national title.