When Paige Bueckers broke down in tears while talking about “hiding her emotions” during her ACL injury

The 2022-23 season was tough for UConn star Paige Bueckers, who missed the entirety of the campaign due to a torn ACL. Throughout the recovery process, she had plenty of emotions which she admitted that she would hide from her teammates.

ESPN's College Basketball page uploaded an Interview with Bueckers to their YouTube channel in November 2023. In the interview, the UConn superstar opened up about recovering from the ACL injury that she suffered in November 2022 as she prepared for a return in the 2023-24 season. Bueckers conceded her emotional state was difficult to hide from her team while being on the sidelines.

"Hiding my emotions was definitely hard as well," Bueckers said while holding back tears. "It just hurts so bad not being able to go out there, especially with all the stuff we were going through as a team. I think the biggest thing for me was just like coming in every day and making sure that nobody saw like the dark times and like the sad times I was going through"

Bueckers also spoke about how she had to show leadership during that period:

"As a team leader, I was just trying to do everything I could to just have a positive attitude about everything and make sure that every time I came into the gym, every time I came to practice, every time I came to rehab, I had a great attitude. I had a smile on my face."

How Paige Bueckers has performed for UConn since ACL injury

Paige Bueckers led the Huskies to the Final Four in her first season following the injury, sweeping awards across the country as the leading star for the team. She was a consensus First Team All-American and won Big East Player of the Year.

In the ongoing 2024-25 season, Bueckers is averaging 19.9 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 55.9% shooting from the field and 40.3% shooting from beyond the arc. With a 15-2 record so far this season, Paige Bueckers and the No. 6 Huskies will look to add another win to their tally in Wednesday's matchup against St. John's at 7 p.m. ET.