Was Paige Bueckers a star in high school basketball? Exploring UConn guard's special talent

UConn Huskies superstar Paige Bueckers has become synonymous with college basketball. She is one of the best players in the country and won the National Player of the Year in 2021 during her freshman year.

Bueckers was a multi-sport athlete in her childhood, playing baseball, soccer and basketball. She played as a catcher in Little League Baseball in her hometown of St. Louis, Minnesota.

It was only in the fifth grade that she started to concentrate solely on basketball while being trained by her father, Bob Bueckers.

After picking up basketball in fifth grade, Paige Bueckers matured rapidly, improving every year until she was considered one of the best players in the country.

She starred for Hopkins High School and was the first female basketball player to be featured on the cover of the popular hoops magazine "SLAM."

During an interview with The Athletic, ESPN analyst and Duke Blue Devils coach Kara Lawson compared her to WNBA legend Diana Taurasi.

Bueckers played 3-on-3 basketball at a high level and Lawson proclaimed that only the very best players have the attributes that make Bueckers special, combining both technical skills and an innate understanding of the game.

“Those few are the legends, right?” Lawson said. “Those are the really, really great players. I don’t say that to put pressure on Paige, I say that to let you know at this stage of her development she’s in a small subset that most players who play the game never come close to.”

During an interview with The Athletic in 2019, the lively Bueckers showed the ambition that drove her to become a National Player of the Year when she joined the UConn Huskies.

“When I’m doing something I want to be the best at it that I can,” Bueckers said. “Whenever I’m not doing anything I’ll probably study the game or go to the gym. It’s just like, everyone’s chasing after me if I’m at the top, but the top isn’t enough for me, I just want to be the best ever, be the best Paige that I can be. I know I can never reach perfection but I’m always aiming for it, so I always have something to do.”

With the departure of Caitlin Clark to the WNBA, many college hoops fans and analysts alike think that the time for Paige Bueckers to reclaim her title as the best women's college basketball player is now.