The pressure has never been greater for UConn star guard Paige Bueckers this March as she aims to secure the elusive NCAA title in her final season with the Huskies.
Having come from a prestigious basketball program in Storrs that has produced legends like Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and Breanna Stewart, Bueckers is determined to fill the gap in her resume with an NCAA championship in 2025. After overcoming a significant ACL injury earlier in her career, the fifth-year senior is ready for a deep tournament run, with UConn recently earning its 31st consecutive Sweet 16 appearance.
One could argue that Bueckers faces a similar question to the one that once loomed over Caitlin Clark during her time at Iowa: Does the absence of an NCAA title diminish her college basketball legacy?
UConn coach Geno Auriemma is well aware of the outside noise surrounding Bueckers’s final run and gave her a powerful message to drown out the critics:
“You don’t owe anybody anything,” Auriemma told Bueckers, via ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. “And if you don’t play another game ever at the University of Connecticut, you’ve given them way more than they bargained for when you got here, regardless of what anybody thinks.”
Bueckers has already established herself as the most efficient player in women’s college basketball over the past 25 years, achieving an impressive 50/40/90 shooting split this season—hitting at least 50% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc, and 90% from the free-throw line.
Whether or not she claims the NCAA title, Bueckers has ample reason to be proud as she prepares for the 2025 WNBA draft in April, where she’s projected to be the No. 1 overall pick.
“Because if you are (happy with yourself), your life is going to be fantastic, whether you ever leave here with a national championship or you don’t,” continued Auriemma. “And if you’re not happy with yourself and you win a national championship, that ain’t gonna make you happier. It’ll make a lot of people around you happier, but ain’t gonna make you happier.”
Bueckers and UConn will face No. 3 Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 on Saturday afternoon.
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