Apr 25, 2025
Dallas Wings’ Paige Bueckers, selected No. 1 overall in the WNBA basketball draft, sports a cowboy hat gifted to her during an introductory press conference Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Nine days after completing a storybook ending to her collegiate career with a national championship win, Hopkins native Paige Bueckers heard her name called in New York on April 15 as the No. 1 pick for the Women’s National Basketball Association with the Dallas Wings.
Bueckers worked up the title as one of the most efficient college guards during her time at UConn, finishing her senior season shooting 53% from the field, nearly 42% from the 3-point line and 88.9% at the foul line.
Bueckers also has a high school state championship to her name, leading Hopkins to a 32-0 record and the 2019 Class 4A title at Williams Arena in Minneapolis.
During her time at UConn, Bueckers surpassed former Minnesota Lynx forward Maya Moore to become UConn’s all-time leading scorer in the NCAA Tournament this year [477 points], and was the fastest UConn player to reach 2,000 career points.
The successes Bueckers was able to achieve, however, didn’t come without a storm.
Bueckers suffered a tibial plateau fracture and lateral meniscus tear in her left knee during a game in December 2021, requiring surgery and missing 19 games of her sophomore season. Once recovered, she tore her ACL in the same knee in August 2022 during a pickup basketball game, sidelining her for the entire 2022-23 season for her junior year.
Returning to the court for UConn for the 2023-24 season, Bueckers finished her redshirt junior and senior year, appearing in nearly all games without serious injury, eventually helping the Huskies win their 12th national title.
Fitting in with Dallas
Bueckers is stepping into an open opportunity to be the cornerstone of a franchise looking to take a leap forward.
The Wings finished their 2024 season 9-31 and missed the playoffs, but went through a general manager and head coaching change during the offseason while earning the top draft pick in the lottery to land Bueckers.
Dallas has also made plenty of player moves in the offseason, including the acquisition of 2024 Most Improved Player DiJonai Carrington from the Connecticut Sun.
Bueckers will play next to and learn from guard Arike Ogunbowale, one of the league’s best sharp-shooters and a four-time All-Star. She was the WNBA’s second-leading scorer last regular season with 22.2 points a game.
The Wings face a tough schedule to start the season. They will first gauge how the new team is putting the pieces together when they face Minnesota, last year’s Western Conference champion, in two of their first three games.
But, playing the Lynx in her professional debut will offer a full-circle moment for Bueckers in Dallas’ season and home opener on May 16. She will then return to her home state days later to face Minnesota on May 21 at the Target Center at 7 p.m.
One of the biggest hurdles Bueckers will have to manage is body fatigue. She begins WNBA training camp on Sunday, just 21 days after playing in the national championship game.
Dallas will be up for a daunting task this season with its identity changes, but if Bueckers can stay healthy, she and Ogunbowale will be a competitively thrilling duo to pay attention to.
Early Rookie of the Year race
In a way-to-early 2025 Rookie of the Year prediction, Bueckers and Connecticut Sun No. 7 pick Aneesah Morrow from LSU could be the two frontrunners for the award.
Morrow enters the league after being referred to as a walking double-double throughout her college career. She finished with the second-most double-doubles in NCAA Division I history with 104, and is one of two players to pass the century mark. Current Chicago Sky assistant coach Courtney Paris leads the NCAA with 128 from her time at Oklahoma.
Morrow is a dominantly reliable force on the boards, and led LSU this season with 18.7 points a game and a nation-leading 13.5 rebounds.
As Bueckers will look to translate her efficiency to the WNBA, and Morrow with translating consistency, these two could be in the top of the race to win ROY this season.
A week away
The WNBA preseason is just seven days away, and Bueckers will travel with Dallas to face the 2022 and 2023 champions Las Vegas Aces at a neutral site at Purcell Pavilion in Notre Dame, Indiana, next Friday at 6 p.m.
From breaking records and winning championships in the midwest to the east coast, Bueckers will now look to carry her successes and find more in the south.
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