After aligning herself with Unrivaled Basketball in addition to her NCAA and WNBA dreams, Paige Bueckers is testing her accuracy through archery. Thanks to the 2024 Paris Olympics, the UConn basketball star has cultivated a newfound affinity towards archery.
This paved the way for a fun collaboration with Meta AI, where $1M NIL-valued (per On3) star and her younger brother Drew shared the benefits of the app by mimicking it as an assistant coach, teaching them the basic rules of the sport. She uploaded a highlight video of the same on her Instagram at midnight on August 5.
"Watching the Summer Games in Paris has made Drew and me unexpected archery fans, so now we are taking a quick side quest to become future gold medalists. With some target practice and a little coaching from @meta.ai - yeah we’re pretty much pros now. #ad," Bueckers captioned the video.
As the USA climbs the medal table in Paris, two of them come through archery. Brady Ellison clinched silver in men's individual and paired up with Casey Kaufhold for bronze in mixed doubles. Even though they barely missed the gold, the 2024 Paris Olympics echoes a success story since the US failed to hit the bullseye on a single medal in Tokyo.
Now, the nation will aim to double its archery success at home in 2028. Nevertheless, despite designating herself as a pro, Paige Bueckers will likely stick to basketball, as radiated at the end of the video.
Paige Bueckers is set to face the next face of women's college basketball in December
In one of the most anticipated women’s basketball games, Bueckers UConn Huskies will face the USC Trojans and JuJu Watkins this year. The two programs have agreed on a two-game series, with its first leg occurring in Connecticut to kick start the Christmas holidays.
While the December 21 game will act as a rematch of the 2024 regional finals, where USC succumbed to an 80-73 loss to UConn, the biggest headlines of the game will be JuJu Watkins and Bueckers.
Watkins averaged 27.1 points and 7.3 rebounds on 40.1% shooting in her freshman season. Bueckers is coming off her career-high numbers of 21.9 points and 5.2 rebounds on 53% shooting.
In their lone faceoff last season, JuJu Watkins posted 29 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal on 36.0% shooting, while Paige Bueckers dropped 28 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks on 47.8% shooting, albeit while ending Trojans’ season.
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