UConn's Paige Bueckers gets candid about her WNBA draft decision

NCAA Womens Basketball: NCAA Tournament Spokane Regional-Oklahoma vs UConn - Source: Imagn

UConn star player Paige Bueckers has been one of the biggest names in college basketball for the last few years. The star guard will be entering this year's WNBA draft, as confirmed by Bueckers herself last week. She was eligible for another season in college basketball but feels she's ready to take the next step.

On Sunday, ahead of UConn's Elite Eight clash against the USC Trojans, Paige Bueckers highlighted how she has felt with her decision to move to the WNBA.

"Honestly, I felt I had declared that long time ago," Bueckers said.

She made the news official on Friday to ESPN analyst Rebecca Lobo. There was a possibility of Bueckers returning to Storrs for a potential sixth year due to a combination of injury redshirting and the time missed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All things considered, Paige Bueckers is one of the best talents in college basketball and has proven in the last few years at UConn that she has what it takes to succeed at the next level. People expect her to have a growth and development like Caitlin Clark.

Paige Bueckers aims to go all the way in the NCAA Tournament with the UConn Huskies

Paige Bueckers has been the cornerstone for the UConn Huskies for the last few years. She dropped a historic 40-point performance in UConn's dominant 82-59 win over Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 round of March Madness.

She became the first UConn player to score 40 points in an NCAA Tournament game. Overall, across 35 games this season, Bueckers has averaged 19.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. She will look to continue her solid run as the UConn Huskies face the USC Trojans in the Elite Eight round on Monday.

Paige Bueckers joined the UConn Huskies in 2020 as a highly rated young athlete. Her journey has been anything but smooth sailing, as she suffered multiple injuries, but she continued to be one of the biggest talents to emerge in college basketball. She came close to winning the national championship in 2021, only to lose to South Carolina in the final.

Bueckers will hope to do everything in her power to guide the Huskies to the national championship this time before she bids the program a final farewell.

About the author

Atrayo Bhattacharya is a college sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over seven years of experience in the field. He holds a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has worked for Khel Now, Sportz Interactive, Sports Rush and Newsbytes.

Atrayo follows Football, Cricket, NBA, Tennis, F1 and World Athletics and is a big fan of Bayern Munich and the Boston Celtics. He also supports the Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL.

On the college scene, the Duke Blue Devils are Atrayo's favorite college team. They have an incredible legacy in the NCAA and Atrayo's favorite player, Jayson Tatum, came out of Duke.

Atrayo has interviewed quite a few international footballers like Roman Weidenfeller, Lothar Matthaus, Jens Lehmann, and Sarpreet Singh other than interviewing several personalities from the Indian Football Ecosystem.

When he is not watching or writing sports, Atrayo is either playing games or binge-watching a new TV series.

Know More

Dawn Staley, Geno Auriemma, or Kim Mulkey - who is NCAAW's highest-paid coach? Find out here

Edited by Bhargav