NEW YORK — Paige Bueckers, who overcame two serious knee injuries during her career at Connecticut and ultimately led the Huskies to their first national championship in eight years, was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 WNBA draft by the Dallas Wings on Monday night.
The 23-year-old guard is the sixth UConn player to be drafted No. 1 overall in the draft’s 30th edition, following Sue Bird (2002, Seattle), Diana Taurasi (2004, Phoenix), Tina Charles (2010, Connecticut), Maya Moore (2011, Minnesota) and Breanna Stewart (2016, Seattle).
Bueckers was emotional when asked about her Huskies teammates.
‘They mean everything to me, all they’ve helped me get through, all the ups and downs, the highs and lows, they’ve seen every side of me, and the love there is unconditional, so forever grateful for them,’ Bueckers said. ‘I want to cherish that relationship for the rest of my life, and I wouldn’t be here without them. I just want to show a state of gratitude to them.
Bueckers, a three-time first-team AP All-American, is not only a walking bucket — she averaged 19.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 4.6 assists last season — but she is a walking advertisement with some of the nation’s most recognizable brand names vying for her services.
She already has endorsement deals with Gatorade, Bose, Dunkin’ Donuts, Verizon and Nike, where she has her own signature shoe called the Paige Bueckers G.T. Hustle 3, becoming the first college athlete under the new name, image, and likeness rules to design and release a Nike basketball shoe.
Stardom has been destined for Bueckers since she laced up sneakers for Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, and by the time she left in 2020, she had a high school championship and was named the Gatorade National and Naismith Prep Player of the Year.
‘Paige Buckets’ didn’t stop once she stepped foot on the Storrs campus, leading UConn to the Final Four her freshman season and winning AP Player of the Year, Naismith College Player of the Year, and the Wooden Award after averaging 20 points, 5.8 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.
But the momentum quickly stopped after she had ankle surgery before her sophomore year and had surgery to repair a tibial plateau fracture and a lateral meniscus tear in her left knee during the season. She returned to action, but UConn fell to South Carolina in the national championship game.
Before the 2022 season, Bueckers tore the ACL in her left knee, wiping out her junior season.
Her five years in college prepared her for professional basketball as she joins a league with young stars, such as Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese.
Since Dallas won the draft lottery last November, the Wings have been preparing for change. Teams are no longer waiting around to develop players. They want to compete for championships now as a future of uncertainty looms as the players have already opted out of the league’s current collective bargaining agreement, which expires Oct. 31, despite a new 11-year media rights deal, worth $2.2 billion, set to commence at the start of the 2026 season.
Dallas was one of four WNBA teams that replaced their head coaches during the offseason, as Latricia Trammell was replaced with Chris Koclanes after the Wings finished 9-31 after making the second round of the playoffs the season before
Former Los Angeles Sparks coach Curt Miller was named the Wings’ executive vice president and general manager, and job one is to replace massive holes in the roster.
Former All-WNBA performer Satou Sabally was traded to the Phoenix Mercury in a four-team deal, and Natasha Howard signed with the Fever in free agency, leaving the team to rebuild around All-Star guard Arike Ogunbowale, who averaged 22.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 2.1 steals per game last season.
‘Dallas is a sports city, so I’m super excited for the support, the new wave of being there, being in a new city, being with a new team and conquering those challenges as a group,’ Bueckers said. ‘But super excited to be there. We’ve got great pieces, a great ownership, great GMs, great coaches. So the entire organization from up to down, I’m extremely excited for it.’
DiJonai Carrington, Ty Harris, and NaLyssa Smith signed with Dallas during the offseason, adding a much-needed veteran presence to go along with returnees guard Maddy Siegrist and center Teaira McCowan.
“All of us are looking to add dawgs to our locker room,” Miller said. Those ‘dawgs’ will have to start on the defensive end, where the Wings allowed a league-worst 92.1 points per game on nearly 48% shooting.
With Bueckers on the roster for the new-look Wings, the mission might have been accomplished.