When did Paige Bueckers have ACL surgery? Exploring the UConn phenom's injury and recovery timeline 

UConn Huskies guard Paige Bueckers had the world at her feet when she won the AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year during her freshman season in 2021 before disaster struck the next season.

In Dec. 2021, Bueckers had a tibial plateau fracture and meniscus tear in her left knee, which severely restricted her sophomore season to only 19 games, but the nightmare was just beginning.

On Aug. 1, 2022, Bueckers tore her ACL in the same left knee, which ruled her out for the rest of the season. She had ACL surgery on Aug. 5, 2022.

In an interview with ESPN, Bueckers described the harrowing experience and how she dealt with the double setback.

“The hardest moment definitely would be sitting in that waiting room after my MRI, the doctors telling me I tore my ACL,” she told ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.

"Part of me thinks it was God calling me to use this," Bueckers said. "I feel like I'm just gonna have a great story to tell by the end of it."

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How Paige Bueckers dealt with the ACL recovery

It was a long 369 days before Paige Bueckers was cleared to play basketball for the UConn Huskies again after she had surgery on her ACL.

In the game against the Tennessee Volunteers, Bueckers was caught on camera breaking down and crying on the sidelines as she explained during an interview with ESPN her long absence.

"You don't want it to be like, 'I'm jealous of my teammates.' But that's how it feels sometimes," Bueckers said. "And it's just an awful feeling because those are my sisters. I love them so much. ... it's more like, 'I wish that was me, too.'"

Bueckers detailed how she moved from despair to trying to plan for a long career without any lasting injuries and trying to understand her body better during her recovery.

"Before I didn't really care about the science of anything," Paige Bueckers said. "I cared about the science of putting the ball in the basket."

"There'll be times in practice where I'm still a little second guessing, going into the paint, going into crowded areas. But overall, the confidence in my body and the way I feel right now is at an all-time high."

Bueckers took on Susan King Borchardt, a performance enhancement specialist who helped her change her lifestyle including nutrition, diet and the incorporation of activation exercises into her daily routine.

Paige Bueckers is back playing and averaging 20.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists on 56.8% shooting this season. She's looking as fit as she has ever been after a nightmarish two years of injuries and recovery.