There is a small crop of athletes who are labeled “generational talents.” Even fewer live up to their full potential and that makes for plenty to talk about on sports radio. One of those talents who is somehow exceeding her expectations is UConn women’s basketball star Paige Bueckers.
It is perhaps even harder to predict a player becoming a star at such a young age. Someone who saw Bueckers play in middle school said that people should “remember the name” in September 2013. Gary Knox posted a picture of of an 11-year-old Bueckers in St. Louis Park, Minn. where the future basketball star grew up.
The tweet/picture resurfaced and went viral after Bueckers led UConn to the Final Four with an impressive performance against fellow Naismith Award finalist JuJu Watkins and USC on Monday night. Bueckers was four assists shy of a triple double while scoring a team-high 28 points, one less than Watkins, the game's leading scorer.
It was the latest incredible showcase of women's hoops by two of the game's best, and the veteran Bueckers outdueled the freshman Watkins in an Elite Eight showdown.
Bueckers continues to have an outstanding third season with the Huskies and is perhaps the star of the tournament. She's averaging 28 points, nine rebounds and five assists while playing all but five of a possible 160 minutes through four tournament games. She's also added over three steals per game and a block and a half per contest.
Bueckers has treated this March Madness as a stepping stone to complete her redemption story. She has yet to win a national championship, something the Huskies haven’t done since 2016. Doing so in this capacity, by having outstanding game after outstanding game, after tearing her ACL less than two years is nothing short of spectacular.
Buckers' UConn legacy on the line
Even though this isn’t Buecker's last dance – she announced in March before the NCAA tournament that she was returning for a fifth year and fourth season on the court for UConn – it is an important year for her legacy.
The Huskies are in their longest drought without a national title since winning their first under Geno Auriemma in 1995. If Bueckers is able to lead UConn basketball to that mountain top once again, it would put her among the greatest Huskies of all-time, most of which are in the conversation for best women's college basketball player of all-time.
The 2024 tournament's role in that legacy looks pretty good at the moment and would only get better if the Huskies can topple the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Final Four. It will be another matchup of giants on the basketball scene as Bueckers is set to battle Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
Securing a victory over Clark and the Hawkeyes would be another feather in the cap for Paige Bueckers and UConn. Winning the national championship would bring everything full circle and that is not out of the question for the Huskies.
If everything goes well, what is there left for Bueckers to prove or accomplish at the college level? She'd have won every major award there is to win in college basketball, both team and individual. Nonetheless, she is poised for a final season at UConn next fall and will likely only add to her legacy.
What's next for UConn?
As mentioned before, UConn will play Iowa for a spot in the national championship on Friday. The winner of that game will face the winner of the South Carolina-North Carolina State game, which will tip off first.
Women's college basketball has taken a front seat over the men's game in recent weeks. Monday night saw two heavyweight battles for Final Four berths as they were two of the best basketball games at any level this season.
UConn might not be the big, bad bully on the playground any more, but the Huskies sure are where they're meant to be and Paige Bueckers is a big reason why. If UConn captures another title on April 7, it'll be back atop the college basketball world and join the men's team as recent champions.
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